The School Is Alive With The Sound Of Magic
by Thing ONe And Thing TWo
Summary: Hogwarts decides to make a play of 'Moulin Rouge' Liars, bitcas, and matchmakers all have their chance at being stars, but is the play doomed? HH. Read and Review, we thrive on it.
1. The Auditions and Stuff

**A.N: Hello, this is the first story by Thing ONe and Thing TWo. Basically, Hogwarts puts on a production of Moulin Rouge. Spare us with the comments "But Moulin Rouge was made after they graduated" "But why would they put on a muggle play?" Just read it. If you think to hard about it, you're bound to be unimpressed.**

**            This has been a Thing ONe and Thing TWo Production.**

**_ATTENTION!  
Remember the school play Dumbledore mentioned first day back?  
Well, we have chosen a script!_**

**_The musical will be:_**

**_MOULIN ROUGE!_**

**_All we need now are actors and actresses!_**

**_If you are in sixth year or above, come and audition on Friday, 16th of September._**

**_Auditions will be held in the Great Hall._**

**_WE NEED YOU!_**

            Parvati Patil finished reading the notice to the assembled crowd. The Gryffindor seventh years had been let out of Transfiguration early, and all of them had quickly grouped around the newly posted sign.

            "Ooh!" Lavender said. "I heard about that movie, I bet we could do a really good play!"

            Ron, Harry, and Hermione, getting the general idea of the notice, slipped out of the crowd. "That sounds interesting" Harry said, "One of us should try out."

            "Not me!" Hermione put in. "I'd be so scared, trying out in front of the teachers."

            "Well, we've still got five days before try-outs are, so if anyone changes their minds and wants to come with me…" Ron said.

            "You're going to audition?" Harry asked. "I never pegged you to be the drama type."

            "I'm not, really. I just think that this might be interesting." He shrugged. "Who cares, let's just get to dinner."

            The week went on normally. Classes were held, tests were given out, Snape tormented Harry, and Neville burnt things. But on Thursday, something finally happened. Hermione went to the girl's bathrooms (even though she has her own Head Girl room, it was located in the Gryffindor Tower, and she still used the Girl's showers) and took a shower. Seeing as she was the only one in there, she decided to indulge in something she rarely did; sing in the shower. She thought of some songs, and decided to sing one that she had heard while at her cousin's in America.

She grabs her magazines She packs her things and she goes 

_She leaves her pictures hangin' on the wall_

_She burns all her notes, and she knows_

_She's been here too few years to feel this old_

_He smokes his cigarette_

_He stays outside till it's gone_

_If anybody ever had a heart well_

_He wouldn't be alone and he knows_

_She's been here too few years to be gone_

_And we always say,_

It would be good to go away someday 

_But if there's nothing here to make things change_

_If it's the same for you I'll just hang_

            Hermione turned off the taps. She stepped out of the shower, then toweled off. As she ran a brush through her hair, she sang some more of the song.

_The trouble understand_

_Is she got reasons he don't_

_Funny how he couldn't see it all_

_Till she grabbed up her coat_

_And she goes she's been here too few years_

_To take it all in stride_

_But it's still much too long to let her go (you let her go)_

_And we always say, _

_It would be good to go away someday_

_But if there's nothing here to make things change_

_If it's the same for you I'll just hang_

_If it's the same for you I'll always hang_

_Well I always say it would be_

_Good to go away someday_

_But if things don't work out like we think_

_And there's nothing there to ease this aching_

_If there's nothing there to ease this pain_

_If it's the same for you I'll just hang._

            She slipped on some clean robes, and opened the door. Standing in front of her were a very stunned Lavender and Parvati. "Was that you singing?" Parvati asked, mouth open.

            "Er- yeah. The song is an American one, that's probably why you've never heard it." Hermione said, guessing that the girls hadn't heard the song before.

            "It wasn't the song, it was your voice!" Lavender said, awed. "Have you always been able to sing that good?"

            "My singing is good?" Hermione was surprised. She had always thought that her voice was good, but she had never dared try and sing in front of others; she was afraid that it would sound horrible.

            "Darling, your singing is the best thing I've heard in a while." Parvati answered. "In fact," She whispered something in Lavender's ear. Lavender nodded in approval. Parvati continued, "You should try out for the play. And for the lead."

            "Oh, I don't know." Hermione said, "And besides, don't one of you want to try out for the lead instead?"

            "Oh, no, when I sing, glass breaks." Lavender said.

            "We're going to try out for two of the four whores. They're kinda the lead's back up." Said Parvati. "And we'll sign up for you, we need to got get something from the DADA room anyways."

            "Well, I suppose I'll try out, but I probably won't get it. And I'm not going to tell Harry and Ron, they'll probably make fun of me incessantly" She said, "Now excuse me, I've got some homework to do."

            Once safely locked in the bathroom, Lavender and Parvati continued their scheming. "Well, it's our luck she's such a great singer. I was going on a gamble for that." Parvati said.

            "Well, we've got her bagged, how are we going to get Harry." Lavender asked.

            "Sweet talk him up, you know, talk about how perfect he'd be for the character, just to try out for fun." Parvati said. "But there is a chance that one or both of them won't get the part."

            "Not likely, I've gone through all the candidates, I made Prof. Monroe show me the list when I signed them both up. There are only five audition spots for each of the parts, and none of the other four are that good."

            "We are so good!" Parvati said, smiling. "The matchmakers of the century!"

            After their showers, Parvati and Lavender went into the common room. They had planned their timing just right. Hermione was at the library, and she couldn't be there when they were. "Because, she's so smart she'll probably see right through our plan." Lavender whispered as they got into the crowded room. They walked to the table where the two boys were sitting. "Hi Ron, Harry." Lavender said, in a cheery voice that matched her cheery smile.

            "Hello Lavender, hi Parvati" They said.

            "So are you two going to try out for the play?" Parvati asked.

            "I am, for Toulouse" Ron said, "Harry doesn't want to try out."

            "Why not?" Lavender asked, looking scandalized.

            "Not my cup of tea, you know. I was never really the acting type." Harry shrugged.

            "Oh come one Harry, why don't you try out for the lead. You'd be perfect. From what I've read, you look just like the character. Audition Harry, it'll be fun!" Parvati said.

            "What do you mean, I look like the character?"

            "Well, you're tall, you've got messy black hair, a charming smile, and you've got this sort of look about you that makes you look kinda like an impoverished poet." Lavender told him.

            "All right, I'll try out, I've got to go sign up though right? In Prof. Monroe's room?" Harry said, finally defeated.

            "You know what, we've got a question for her, so we can go sign up for you." Lavender said. "Bye guys."

            Once outside the common room, Parvati and Lavender gave themselves high fives. "Yes, we've got them hooked!"

            Lavender leaned in and whispered to Parvati "Now, we've got to go by the auditions tomorrow and have all eyes and ears open. We don't want this to go to waste. They must be the leads, they must!"

            Classes ended after lunch that day so that was when auditions were held. Harry and Ron had decided not to tell Hermione of Harry's new intention to tryout. They decided that it would be a funny shock for her if he did get the part. And it was very good, they decided, that Hermione would be spending the time during the auditions, studying in the library. Which meant, she wouldn't stumble upon his alibi of being working in the common room a lie.

            So they were now standing in the crowd in the Great Hall, many people sat down at the long house tables, while others stood. Harry and Ron were chatting with Lavender and Parvati, when they saw a brown-haired someone enter the hall. "Hermione!" Harry and Ron yelled. She turned and saw them, waving her over. She came over to their table and sat next to Ron. "You said you were in the library." Harry said.

            "And you said you were in the common room." Hermione retorted. "Anyway, I thought that you didn't want to audition."

            "I didn't. These two," He pointed at Lavender and Parvati, "talked me into to it. Further more, they talked me into auditioning for the lead."

            "Funny" Hermione remarked, "That's the exact same thing they did to me…"

            "Hey, can you blame us for wanting an all Gryffindor cast?" Lavender said, hoping this would cover for the real intentions and praying that they wouldn't find out their little game of matchmaker.

            "Yeah, we don't want any Slytherins in the lead!" Parvati added righteously.

            Suddenly, the voice of their DADA teacher, Prof. Monroe, rang across the hall. "We are going to start with the auditions for Satine!" She said, her voice intensified with a Sonorous Charm. "Let's start with Ginny Weasley."

            "Ginny's trying out?" Lavender whispered. "What if she gets it, all of her adolescent fantasies will suddenly come true!"

            "Nope, I heard her sing once, Crabbe can probably do a better job than her!"

            Five minutes later, Ginny emerged, her face red, but she was smiling. "Next up," Monroe said, "Hermione Granger."

            "Wish me luck!" She said, getting up from her seat. She walked to the door off the side of the hall. When she got in, she was met by the stares of all the Hogwarts teachers.

            "Hello Miss. Granger." Dumbledore said, "Could you please read from the script." Hermione read some of the lines, feeling her confidence grow.

_"I don't need you anymore! All my life you've made me believe I was only worth what someone would pay for me! But Christian loves me Harold. He loves me. He **LOVES** me! And that is worth everything. I'm going away from you, away from the Duke, away from the Moulin Rouge! Goodbye Harold."_

Dumbledore signaled for her to stop. "Very nice. Now, just sing the highlighted lines, and you'll be done."

            Hermione looked at the music sheet she'd been giving. She took a deep breath, and started to sing.

I followed the night 

_Can't stand the light_

_When will I begin_

_To live again_

_One day I'll fly away_

_Leave all this to yesterday_

_What more could your love do for me_

_When will love be through with me_

_Why live life from dream to dream_

_And dread the day when dreaming ends_

_One day I'll fly away_

_Leave all this to yesterday_

_Why live life from dream to dream_

_And dread the day _

_When dreaming ends_

_One day I'll fly away_

Fly fly away 

            There was a round of clapping from the teachers. "Very good! That was wonderful." Dumbledore said. She thanked them, and walked out of the room. Hermione knew it would do no good to just sit around and wait for Ron and Harry to try-out, so she instead went to the library.

            Back in the Great Hall, after thirty-five minutes and a glass of pumpkin juice later, Harry was called. In the room where he had waited after his name had been pulled from the Goblet of Fire, the teachers were all lined up at a table. Harry very much felt like it was Judgment Day, the way all the teachers were looking at him, Snape particularly menacing. "Harry, would you please oblige us with reading the highlighted parts of this script." Harry took the paper he was given, and read off of it.

            "_I first came to Paris one year ago. I knew nothing of the Moulin Rouge, Harold Zidler, or Satine. The world had been caught up in the Bohemian Revolution and I had traveled from London to be part of it. On the hill near Paris was the village of Momartre. It was not as my father had called it._" Here, Dumbledore spoke for the father's part. "_But instead the center of the Bohemian world. Writers, painters, musicians, they called themselves the children of the revolution. Yes, I had come to live a penniless existence and write about truth, beauty, freedom, and that which I believed in above all things, love. But there was only one problem; I'd never been in love. Right at that moment, an unconscious Argentinean fell through my roof, he was quickly joined by a dwarf dressed as a nun._"

Harry was very glad that he had to stop here, he was afraid he might start laughing soon. "Very good Harry, now if you'll just sing a bit of this song, you can be on your way!" Dumbledore said.

Harry froze. He had forgotten that it was a musical. And Lavender had never mentioned the fact that he would have to sing. 'Oh well,' he thought 'might as well try'. He took a very deep breath, and then started singing.

My gift is my song 

_And this one's for you_

_You can tell everybody_

_This is your song_

_It may be quite simple_

_But now that it's done_

_I hope you don't mind_

_I hope you don't mind_

_That I put down in words_

_How wonderful life is now you're in the world_

_I sat on the roof_

_And I kicked off the moss_

_Well some of these voices they got me quite cross_

_But the sun's been kind_

_While I wrote this song_

_It's for people like you that keep it turned on_

_So excuse me forgetting 'bout these things I do_

_You see I've forgotten if their green or blue_

_And well the thing is_

_What I really mean_

_You've got the sweetest eyes I've ever seen._

            There was a sudden burst of applause from all the teachers. Even Snape looked impressed. "Very good Harry, very good!" Dumbledore said. "Now, if you'll run scoot along, we have to see your friend Ron now."

            Harry walked out into the hall feeling elated. As he left, Monroe called out Ron. "Good luck." Harry said as Ron passed him. Harry grabbed another bottled pumpkin juice and sat back down at the table.

            "How'd it go?" Lavender asked instantly.

            "Better than I expected" Harry said. "You two never told me I would have to sing though."

            "Well, we thought that you would've guessed. I mean, it did say in the advert that it was a musical." Parvati said. "Besides, your probably a great singer."

            "Well, I found out that I was. Anyway, what parts are you trying out for?" Harry asked.

            "Parts in the Four Whores." Lavender noticed Harry's face. "I know, lovely name isn't it?"

            Suddenly Ron appeared at the table. "I have to be short." He said.

            "What?"

            "Toulouse-Lautrec was a midget. I have to walk around in these weird feet things that I put my knees onto, and then it makes me look shorter." His face was ashen. "That's all they asked me to do, no singing, no line reading, just that. And I was shaking so bad, I'm not even sure if I was balancing."

            "You'll get the part, don't worry. C'mon, let's go find 'Mione." Harry said. "Well, bye girls. Tell us when they post the results."

            Two or three minutes after they left, a sixth year they didn't know came out of the room. "Hannah Abbott, Lavender Brown, Padma Patil, and Parvati Patil." Monroe said. Lavender and Parvati looked at each other. This was it. They knew they were assured a part, but which of the whores would they be?

            "Now girls, when you signed up you were given a sheet depicting the dance you have to do. We have some can-can skirts for you, and you can just slip those on over your pants. You can start when you're all ready." Dumbledore said.

            They went over to the wall and each picked up one of the white petticoats. 'All right' Lavender thought 'just dance'. And that was what she did. With a swish of her skirt, the beat came to her, and she moved, all of the others with her.

            After a heart pounding seven and a half minutes (Parvati had it timed), they stopped their dancing. As Parvati and Lavender were leaving, they noticed that Prof. Monroe was leaving too. "Professor, do you think Harry and Hermione will get their parts?" Lavender asked.

            "Well, they have my vote, and the vote of many others. I am confident that they will be our leading lady and man." She suddenly grinned. "And I am guessing I am not the only one who wants to get those two together?"

            "We've been trying for years, and now the play is our only hope!" Parvati said.

            "Good for you, those two are perfect for each other. If you'll excuse me, I have to get one of our possible Zidlers."

            That night, McGonagall came in with the list. She had various copies and posted them all around then common room. Normally, everyone would've ran up to look, but the stare she gave them told the Gryffindors to stay in their seats. When she left, everyone ran to the nearest list.

Satine: Hermione Granger 

**_Christian: Harry Potter_**

**_Toulouse: Ron Weasley_**

**_Zidler: Justin Finch-Fletchley_**

**_The Duke: Draco Malfoy_**

**_The Argentinean: Morag McDougal_**

**_Satie: Terry Boot_**

**_The Doctor: Colin Creevy_**

**_Marie: Sally-Anne Perks_**

**_Nini One Leg in the Air: Lavender Brown_**

**_Arabia: Parvati Patil_**

**_China Doll: Padma Patil_**

**_Môme Fromage: Hannah Abbott_**

**_Warner: Vincent Crabbe_**

**_Dancers: Any girl who didn't get a part. We still need 10 dancers! If you're a fifth year, see your head of house._**

            ACTORS, GET YOUR SCRIPTS NOW FROM PROF. MONROE! 

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other. "Let's go get our scripts now. We can read over them tonight." Hermione said. They walked silently down the hall, and when they got to Prof. Monroe's door, it hit them.

            "We're really going to be in the play." Harry said.

            "We're really going to be the leads." Ron said

            "We're really going to be singing in front of people." Hermione froze. Then she suddenly pulled the two of them into a hug. "I'm really going to be a prostitute, Harry's really going to be a poet, and Ron's really going to be a painter!" She said, pulling them closer, close to strangling them.

            "You can let go Hermione." Ron said, "We really need to get our scripts." Hermione let them go.

            They walked in the room, where a stack of scripts stood. Malfoy was in there getting a script too. He was flipping through it, and smiled when he saw Hermione. "Well Granger, it looks like I get to own you." He said.

            Hermione ignored the comment, though her cheeks went red. She and the boys walked up to Prof. Monroe. "We've come for our scripts." She said.

            "Well, here you go!" Professor Monroe. She handed them three heavy scripts. "You better start reading; I want you to be rehearsing off-book within by January. It's almost October now, so get on it!"

            "You mean you'll be directing?" Harry asked.

            "Yes, when Dumbledore asked for someone, I volunteered. I guess I was just crazy enough for the job." Monroe said. "Now, we're going to have our first read through tomorrow during my free period, which would be your class before lunch. Come here and don't be late, we need everyone!"

            Back up in the Head Girl's Room, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat among the books of her living space. Hermione was on the bed and Ron got her desk chair. Which left Harry with… "Why do I have to get the pink and purple make-up chair?" Harry whined.

            "Because I spent lots of time painting it. Now sit!" Hermione said. "Now, we're going to read our parts… and for someone else's… makeup a funny voice."

            They all opened the first page. Ron immediately groaned. "I have to sing? I don't want to sing!"

            "Oh go on Ron, we won't laugh." Harry said, "Besides, you don't have to sing more than me."

            "All right" Ron sighed.

There was a boy 

_A very strange_

_Enchanted boy_

_They say he wandered very far_

_Very far over land and sea_

_A little shy_

_And sad of eye_

_But very wise was he_

_And then one day_

_A magic day_

_He passed my way_

_And while we spoke of many things _

_Fools and kings_

_This he said to me_

_"The greatest thing_

_You'll ever learn_

_Is just to love_

And be loved in return" 

            He looked at Harry and Hermione. "Well, it wasn't spectacular, but it didn't stink either." Hermione said.

            "Yeah Ron. It was pretty good." Harry said, "Well, moving right along." He started reading again. "The Moulin Rouge. A nightclub, dance hall, and bordello. Ruled over by Harold Zidler, it was the kingdom of nighttime pleasures. Where the rich and famous would come and play with the beautiful creatures of the underworld. The most beautiful of all these was the woman I loved. Satine. As a courtesan she sold her love to men. And she was the star of the Moulin Rouge. The woman I love is…dead."

"Wait a minute!" Hermione yelled, suddenly seething with rage. "I die? I can't die!"

            "Listen Hermione, we'll find out why later, okay." Harry said. "Let's just continue." They went on reading, using funny voices for other parts. And then Harry had his first lines of song.

            "Let's just skip this." He said.

            "No," Hermione giggled. "In no way am I missing this. You're going to have to sing around us at some point. Might as well be now."

            Harry took a deep breath and then sung out, "The hills are alive with the sound of music."

            Hermione and Ron looked at each other. "Wow." Ron let out after a second. "That was brilliant!"

            And so it went. They read through the entire script, ending with Hermione's death scene, in which she fainted dramatically onto the bed.

            The next day, they all trooped into Monroe's room. The room had been set up with a long table and there were place cards for everyone. Harry and Hermione were seated across from each other ("Because," Monroe thought, "It's much more romantic to sing across from one another") and Ron was on Harry's side. On his other side was Morag. Hermione was next to Draco and Justin.

            "Okay everyone, we're here today to do the read-through. We will be doing the singing but none of the dance numbers." Monroe said. "We don't have some of the more minor characters, like Satine's doctor, various dancers, one of Zidler's assistants. But we will be getting those later. I'll be reading their parts for the time being" She looked around. "Well, I believe that's all. Oh, since we aren't in class, please call me Lauren, 'professor' sounds so stuffy for a director. Now I guess we should start."

They read through, stopping only when someone had a question or when Lauren wanted to give them some direction. Both Harry and Hermione had been embarrassed singing in front of their peers, but their fears quickly subsided. "Now, the part we're on is a very important part." Lauren was saying. "This is when Christian manages to make Satine change her mind about loving him and he does it through music. Now, if you'll please begin singing."

_Harry: All you need is love_

_Hermione: A girl's got to eat_

_Harry: All you need is love_

_Hermione: Or she'll end up on the street_

_Harry: All you need is lo-o-ove_

_Hermione: Love is just a game_

_Harry: I was made for lovin' you baby you were made for lovin' me_

_Hermione: The only way you'd love me baby is to pay a lovely fee_

_Harry: Just one night, gimme just one night_

_Hermione: There's no way, cause you can't pay_

_Harry: In the name of love, one night in the name of love_

_Hermione: You crazy fool, I won't give in to you_

_Harry: Don't leave me this way, I can't survive without your sweet love, oh baby, don't leave me this way_

_Hermione: You'd think people would've had enough, with silly love songs_

_Harry: I look around me and I see, it isn't so, no_

_Hermione: Some people wanna fill the world, with silly love song_

_Harry: Well what's wrong with that, I'd like to know, cause here I go again. Love lifts us up where we belong, where eagles fly, on a mountain high_

_Hermione: Love makes us act like we are fools. Throw our lives away, for one happy day_

_Harry: We could be heroes, just for one day_

_Hermione: You, you will be me._

_Harry: No I won't._

_Hermione: And I, I'll drink all the time._

_Harry: We should be lovers_

_Hermione: We can't do that._

_Harry: We should be lovers, and that's a fact_

_Hermione: Though nothing would keep us together._

_Harry: We could still turn just for one day_

_Harry and Hermione: We could be heroes forever and ever. We could be heroes forever and ever. We could be heroes_

_Harry: Just because I will always love you_

_Hermione: And I can't help loving you. How wonderful life is._

_Harry and Hermione: Now you're in the world._

            All the while they had been singing, Harry and Hermione had been looking at each other, smiling. When they finished, everyone in the room clapped. "Well done!" Lauren said, "You two have perfect harmony together!"

            They read through the rest of the play. By the end, there wasn't a dry (female) eye in the room. Lavender and Parvati were sobbing and saying "Poor Satine, she didn't deserve to die!" Even Lauren was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

            "Now, tomorrow we're going to do it on stage. Well, a fake stage anyway-we're setting up a makeshift one in the Hall. We'll rehearse tomorrow right after dinner!" Lauren said. The lunch bell rang, and the room emptied.

            "Harry, Hermione," Lauren called above the crowd "Could I have a word with you?"

            Hermione and Harry put their scripts in their bags, and walked towards their teacher's desk.

            "Now, as I'm sure you noticed, this is a very romantic production." She said, looking at them straight in the eye. "I just want to make sure that neither of you have any problems with that."

            Both Harry and Hermione reddened. "N-no" Hermione mumbled. "I mean, not if Harry has any objections."

            "I don't if you don't" Harry said, looking at the floor.

            "All right then." Lauren said. "Now, why don't you two get to lunch."

            "What was that about?" Ron asked.

            "Oh, nothing." Harry said quickly, giving a knowing smile to Hermione.

A.N: Now you've read and you really should review, and another chapter will be posted by Thing ONe and Thing TWo.


	2. Disclaimer

Thing ONe: We have forgotten to write a disclaimer. How horrible are we? Now all the lawyers are going to sue us.

Thing TWo (down on her knees, crying): Please, don't shoot! I have so much to do! I haven't even met Ewan McGregor yet!

Thing ONe: Sweetie, I said Sue not Shoot.

Thing TWo (getting up, looking uncomfortable): Oh, in that case, here's the disclaimer.

Thing ONe: The song "Hang" that Hermione sings in the bathroom is by Matchbox Twenty.

Thing TWO: And sung on the real CD by their amazingly sexy lead guitarist

Thing ONE: And is in no way affiliated with Moulin Rouge!

Thing TWO: Speaking of, all other songs, lines, and characters belong to the wonderful Baz Luhrman, and all the writers of the songs.

Thing ONe: But since there are so many songs.

Thing TWo: And we're too lazy to grab the CD

Thing ONe: We won't mention them. And of course, all the characters belong to

Together: J. K ROWLING!

Thing ONe: The end.

Thing TWo: So long.

Together: AND H/H=THE RIGHT CHOICE!


	3. First Kisses and First Glints at Draco's...

**Thing ONe: WE'RE BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!**

**Thing TWo: Any you though that you had gotten rid of us. As if. We're immortal.**

**Thing ONe: And high on ham.**

**Thing TWo: And Dallas, and Harry Potter, and Ewan McGregor**

**Thing ONe: And too many other things to mention.**

***In the background, Thing TWo can be heard listing things that make her happy***

**Thing ONe: In this chapter stuff…**

**Thing TWo: …Happens.**

**Thing ONe: Just the word I was looking for.**

Thing TWo: And in case we never mentioned it, there is going to be a theatre in Hogsmeade, it is currently being built.

Thing ONe: On the disclaimer side of life, Baz Luhrman owns Moulin Rouge! and all songs. 

Thing TWo: In the film version of "Come What May" the lines 'everyday I love you more and more' is not added until Sating sings them at the end. We left them out since the scene we do is the original film version

Thing ONe :J.K. Rowling owns the characters, we're just the ones torturing them. The song that is sung in the Great Hall is "I hope I didn't just give away the ending" by New Radicals.

**Thing TWo: Who broke up *pouts* Oh well, there's always Matchbox Twenty. "I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell. I know right now, you can't tell. But stay a while and maybe then you'll see, a different side of me."**

**Thing ONe: *Hands over ears*. So read this thing. I'm off to shut her up.**

**This has been a Thing ONe and Thing TWo production**

The next day, the cast met after dinner, all of them carrying their bags in hopes to do a bit of homework. A provisional stage was standing at one end of the hall. Chairs had been lined up in front of it, and there were cards on top of each one.

            "Director Extrodinaire." Was for Lauren.

            "The Prostitute Who Makes Men Cry" Was Hermione's.

            "Sexy Penniless Poets Unite" Was Harry

            "9th Midget Wonder of the World" was the chair that Ron regretfully sat in.

            "The Big Guy" "Don't Touch My Stuff" "You Need an Alarm Clock" "Absinthe Drinkers Anonymous" were some of the others.

            Lauren took her seat. "Now, Harry, you get into the center of the stage, sit down, cross your legs or something, look depressed." Harry did so, adding a very pathetic face for affect. "Ron, go off to the other side of the stage, and sing." She pointed everyone in the right direction. "Now, start!"

            They started rehearsing, everyone looking very odd holding their scripts while doing whatever activity needed to be done. 

            Then came the Elephant Love Medley, or as Lavender, Parvati and Lauren knew it, The First Big Snog.

            "_How wonderful life is now you're in the world_" Harry and Hermione sang.

"Now kiss her!" Lauren said. Harry leaned down and gave Hermione a quick kiss on the lips. They both turned bright red, possibly at the fact that almost everyone in the room was clapping.

            "It's going to have to be slightly more passionate than that though." Lauren said. Everyone, even Harry and Hermione, laughed. "Now, let's have a quick set change and we'll get Draco and Justin on stage."

            The sets changed quickly (the set being a table and two chairs) and the performers were on stage. 

            Malfoy was good. Too good.

            "It's not that I'm a jealous man. I just don't like other people TOUCHING MY THINGS!" Malfoy shouted, face turning red with pretend rage, while Justin quivered with real fear across the table.

            There was the general clapping at the end of the scene. "Well done Draco!" Lauren said "Way to catch the emotion. Justin, good job, but be a little more animated next time." 

            They continued on. The hardest scene to do was Roxanne because of the lack of dancers and the fact that Morag had yet to practice his singing lines.

            Then came the death scene.

            "You've got to go on, Christian." Hermione said, in a choked voice, partially because she was about to cry. Circled around them was almost the entire cast, looking sad.

            "I can't go on without you though." Harry said.

            "You've got so much to give. Tell our story. Promise me; promise me you'll tell our story. That way I'll always be with you."

            The girls were crying. It had been romantic when they were speaking it but now, when Hermione was on the ground, a look of death on her face, Harry holding her as she said her final words, it was even more so.

            The rehearsal ended with Harry saying. "But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever. The end."

            "That's a wrap!" Lauren said. Everyone clapped and cheered. It was as though they had just finished the real play. "Our next rehearsal is Friday night. We're going to work on the beginning scenes and try on costumes. See you then!"

            As they left, Malfoy caught up with them. "Good job Granger." He said.

            "You too." Hermione answered coolly. "Well, I've got to go, need to get to the library." Hermione hurried off, trailing Harry and Ron behind her.

            "What was that about?" Harry asked.

            "I don't know." Hermione mused. "Is it just me, or was he too good at that role, all the shouting and violence?"

            "Yeah, but don't worry, it's not like he can really hurt anybody" Ron assured her.

            Yes, well, there was something about our darling Mr. Malfoy that no one knew. Something important. (What? Do you want us to tell you now? That would ruin everything. You'll find out soon enough. We promise.)

            Lauren Monroe ran down to the Owlry. She was expecting the shipments of costumes today.

            How she had gotten the costumes was an interesting story. Lauren had an Australian friend, Katie, who worked for Fox Studios in Sydney. Lauren had told Katie about the play, and Katie said she could get the costumes for her.

            So Katie went into the huge costume building, and found all the costumes from Moulin Rouge. She made copies of them (magically of course) and sent them off to Lauren in the UK.

            So that would explain why Lauren was sitting in the Owlry on the coldest morning of the year.

            Suddenly, the Owls swept in, and, above the fray, Lauren spotted her large black owl.

            "Hello Artemis" She said as the owl swooped down to greet her. Lauren took off the small package and let Artemis fly away for some sleep.

            Lauren walked back to her room with the small package. "Amazing that they could fit 100 costumes in this." She mused to herself. "Katie never ceases to astonish me." 

            When Lauren opened up the package and the magically shrunken costumes came back to their full size, Lauren noticed a distinct problem.

            Hermione was about the average height, a little over 5"5. Nicole Kidman on the other hand, was 5"10. And Harry –though he had grown as tall as Ron now- was not 5"10 1/2. 

"I do believe we have some sewing to get done." Lauren muttered to herself.

            Two hours later the DADA room was filled with girls and sparks. Lauren had called in all the dancers and leads and taught them a hemming spell. Soon, all the coat hangers had been filled and everyone went off to lunch.

            "Come back after you eat!" She yelled at the crowd. "We'll try them on then." Lauren looked around. The entire room was covered with costumes. Flashy can-can costumes, sparkling diamond ones for Hermione, suits for all the boys, and bright red jackets for Justin. The room was also covered with a light dusting of glitter, much like the first snow one sees in late November.

            "Great Wizards of England" she muttered. "The House-Elves will kill me."

            While Lauren was mentally cursing herself and trying to put some of the abandoned clothes on hangers, Dumbledore walked in.

            "Well, this is quite a scene isn't it?" He asked, a bemused smile playing on his face.

            Lauren jumped up. "Professor Dumbledore! We were only doing the clothes for fittings, I promise that it will be cleaned by the end of the day."

            Dumbledore chuckled. "Oh no, it's quite alright. You certainly have been busy. How are your lessons going?"

            "I am so thankful that I have Fleur to help me," Lauren said. "It was a great idea for you to get me an assistant."

            "No problem. Fleur was anxious to get a job here, and I knew you might need an intern." Dumbledore lowered his voice. "So how's the pool going?"

            "All the teachers have put in bids. The way things are going, it looks like Sprout might be the closest" Lauren said quietly.

            "And me?"

            "Well, if Sprout's predictions are correct, then you're about three weeks ahead."

            "And what day does she have them down for?"

            Lauren went to check a paper on her desk. "She says Christmas. The people who have lost are Flitwick and Fleur. Severus has them down for never, and we'll just pray he's wrong."

            "Well, keep me posted." Dumbledore said, turning to leave. "I may come to your next rehearsal."

            It was lucky that he left then, because the plan might have been discovered. Harry and Hermione came in two seconds later, laughing at something that had happened at lunch.

            "What are you two doing here so early?" Lauren asked.

            "We are having a bit of a discussion." Hermione said through laughs. "It's about the 'Your Song' scene. I think that the dance is fine the way it is, but Harry thinks," Here, Hermione broke into a fit of giggles. "Harry thinks there should be glitter pouring from the ceiling like in the movie."

            Harry blushed.

            "I think it would be like in 'Singing in the Rain'" He muttered, "A more classic look."

            Lauren considered it for a moment. "Well, so do I, but we'll never know unless we see it."

            They cleared of some space. "Before you start, let me grab some judges."  Lauren quickly left the room and ran into the Great Hall. "Lavender, Parvati!" She said, running over to the Gryffindor table. "I need you!"

            Once in the room, Lauren told Harry how to set up a spell for raining glitter. 

            "Okay, and start!" 

            Harry sang his song, picking up Hermione and dancing with her around the room. At the specified time, glitter rained from the ceiling, covering the already sparkling room in another layer.

            Lavender, Lauren, and Parvati clapped. "Definitely with glitter!" Lavender said.

            Harry and Hermione looked at each other and burst out laughing. 

            "What?" Lauren asked, confused.

            "It's just, it's just…" Harry said between breaths.

            "Turn-giggle-around!" said Hermione.

            Ron had been watching, and had now fainted dead away on the floor.

            Still laughing, Hermione and Harry ran over to him. "Too much glitter" he muttered. "Way too much glitter."

            "Oh Ron" Lauren said, helping him up. "Forget about the glitter, you all have costumes to try on."

Later that day, Hermione was trying on costumes with the Four Whores (who were managing costumes) present.

            "Come on Hermione." Padma said, waiting outside the door to the girl's bathroom.

            The door slowly opened. The girls all cheered. "Wooooh Hermione!" they screamed. "Sexy mama! All right!"

            Hermione stood half behind the door blushing. She was wearing the outfit from her first number, the diamond suit. "It looks alright?" she asked, looking at the floor.

            "Perfect, you babe." Hannah said. "Well, come along, into the next binding outfit!" She shooed Hermione into the bathroom to grab another outfit.

            The three girls left started conversing in quiet voices. "How hott was she?" Lavender asked.

            "If Harry hasn't noticed her by now, he will at first dress rehearsal." Padma assured her.

            "And if he's still too daft to notice anything, well, we'll just have to push things a bit." Parvati said, a mischievous light growing in her eyes.

            But unbeknownst to even Hogwarts' biggest gossips, something quite romantic, scary, and powerful had already begun to brew, and a few key ingredients were going to be added that night.

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in the front row of chairs, laughing at a joke someone had just told. They were the only ones left in the Hall now; everyone else had gone to bed. They kept on trying to leave, but something would come up to stop it all.

            "Oh we should really go." Ron said, laughing and yawning at the same time. "Come on you two."

            "Mione and I will stay a bit longer." Harry said, "You aren't tired are you?"

            "Oh no, I had too much sugar at dinner!" Hermione said, fighting back mad giggles.

            "I'll see you guys tomorrow" Ron said, leaving.

            Harry and Hermione were silent. "Now what?" Harry asked.

            "Wanna practice?" Hermione asked. "Elephant needs a bit of work."

            "All right then" Harry said, standing up. "After you milady" he offered her his hand.

            "Oh, thank you, your majesty." Hermione said back, trying not to burst out laughing.

            "Take it from the top shall we?" Harry asked, a smile on his face.

            Hermione smiled back and started her lines.

            They did the song, up until the end. "You're going to be bad for business; I can tell" Hermione whispered. She knew this was the part where the first kiss came in, but she and Harry had always stopped here.

            "Do 'Come What May' now," Harry asked. "Or continue with the scene? I mean-move onto my monologue?" He finished quickly.

            "We're going to have to practice someday." Hermione said in a voice that didn't hide her nervousness.

            "And best not have us trying and laughing all the time in front of Ron." Harry put in. "Do it now, so we won't have any mess-ups in rehearsal."

            "And it won't mean anything" Hermione said. "I mean, if the average person were to walk in now and see it, they would think something."

            "But we're just friends, everyone knows it" Harry put in for her.

            "Exactly"

            It seemed that the two teens were trying to convince themselves more than the other one.

            "Ready?" Harry asked.

            "Sure." Hermione answered, feeling herself tremble. Mentally slapping herself, her conciousness reminded her that this was Harry, her best friend.

            Harry's mind was currently having the same battle as he leaned down to kiss her. 'No big deal' he thought 'Just Mione, not Cho or anything, regular old Mione'

            As Harry's lips touched hers, those thoughts were instantly erased, like when one uses that big sweeper thing over a Magna Doodle. All former traces gone, ready to be doodled in. Now, the doodling in both brains was, well, abstract to say the least.

            Hermione had both her hands behind Harry's head, crossing in midair, while Harry's hand supported her back. If it weren't for the fact that they were wearing their robes and there was a lack of a giant red windmill, they would look exactly like Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman on the movie poster.

            Lauren had told them that they would have to kiss for six straight seconds. If you were to stand there with a stopwatch (which would be quite embarrassing when you think about it), this was about twenty seconds.

            Harry pulled away. "Wow- I mean, that went well."

            Hermione smiled. Harry leaned down to kiss her again, and she made no moves to stop him. Now this was serious. This wasn't just a bit of acting, or even playful flirting; this was full-frontal snogging in the first degree.

            Hermione was the first to pull away.

            "We shouldn't be doing this," she said. "I mean, in no insult to you, but this could seriously affect things."

            "Yeah." Harry said. "People would definitely treat us differently. Let's just pretend that this never happened. We're both tired, and it could just be the sugar doing things to us"

            Harry made a move to walk away, but Hermione grabbed his robes. "No," she said, "Harry, I've liked you since our second year, I've just never wanted to admit it to myself. I-I want to be with you." She stammered.

            Harry looked at her. "Are you sure? There's bound to be plenty of guys out there that want you.  You don't want to be stuck with boring old me."

"I'm sure," Hermione said. "We just can't tell anyone. This would affect the play too much." 

"All right." Harry nodded. "One last kiss before bed?"

Hermione didn't answer, but instead stood up to her full height to kiss him, and neither of them needed to worry about talking now.

Now, as this was happening, another key ingredient was being added to our chaos potion. Why don't we take a visit to Slytherin Common Room?

"Potter is too daft to even notice." Malfoy said, pacing back and forth. "She's been looking sexy for the past three years, and he still doesn't do anything. Even Ron and George Weasley dated her, and Potter can't see it."

Blaise Zabini nodded. He had become used to Draco's thing for Hermione Granger, and this play seemed to only egg on his passion.

"So you'll try to make you're move?" he asked, already knowing Draco's answer.

"Yes, tomorrow, during the rehearsal break." Draco said, still pacing, the battle plan forming in his mind.

"Go to bed Draco" Blaise said.

Draco sighed. "All right. Can't have myself looking like a cooked leek tomorrow can I?"

Blaise sighed. Cooked leeks. Draco never ceased to amaze him.

"You got the music?" Lavender asked.

"Sure do." Parvati said, handing her a sheet of music.

"Want to practice?"

Parvati viewed their surroundings. Great Hall at dinner. No one would hear. Rehearsals would be starting soon "Yes!"

She wanted to be a nun 

_Until that faithful day we met_

_I beat the Crucifix in a game of_

_Russian Roulette._

_I burned my Beatles records_

_'Cause she hated #9_

_She licked rock cocaine suckers_

_Laughed, said her moms doing mine._

Some of the people in the play had gathered around. They got sheets too and started to sing along

_Are you an illusion?_

_Or am I just getting stoned?_

_Cause I can't take it alone_

_I can't take it alone_

_I hope I didn't just give away the ending._

_Started limping_

_Caught a handicapped shuttle to town_

_And yelled "God's Healed Us"_

_As we ran off the bus, the driver just frowned._

_By the way this girl was sexy_

_And she wouldn't touch you_

_That may not be true but I said it_

_So you feel involved with the song._

_Are you an illusion?_

_Or am I just getting stoned?_

_Cause I can't take it alone_

_I can't take it alone_

_I hope I didn't just give away the ending._

More and more people form the play were coming over and singing. Others in the Hall were starting to look over.

_Caught a fey taxi driver_

_I smiled the ride was free_

_I felt like Amsterdam_

_She wanted more drugs and maybe me_

_I told her dealer I was broke_

_He hired a cameraman_

_We did a porno film for coke_

_I hear I'm big in Japan_

_Are you an illusion?_

_Or am I just getting stoned?_

_Cause I can't take it alone_

_I can't take it alone_

_I can't take it alone_

_I hope I didn't just give away the ending._

_Went back to her kitchen_

_Put the coke all in a can_

_Tied up a _

_TV. Minister_

_In walked her dad_

_Started drinking coffee_

_Too much sugar on the go._

_He fell dead on the floor_

_He thought the coke was sweet'n'low_

_Are you an illusion?_

_Or am I just getting stoned?_

_Babumbumdadum_

_Man was she upset_

_But then she stole her dad's wallet and_

_I drove him to the hospital_

_To sell all his donatable_

_Body parts._

_This is when she dies_

_They brought a depressed junkie in_

_She shot his cyanide up._

_I guess she thought he was Errol Flynn._

_I blamed in confusion_

_The police being phoned_

_I don't even love you_

_We weren't even friends_

_It's just that I can't take it alone_

_I can't take it alone_

_I hope I didn't just give away the ending._

_I hope I didn't just give away the ending. _

_I hope I didn't just give away the ending. _

_I hope I didn't just give away the ending. _

_I hope I didn't just give away the ending. _

_I hope I didn't just give away the ending._

_Aw Jesus, Aw Shit, I think I just gave away the ending._

Everyone in the hall started clapping. Ron stood up on a bench and yelled "Thank you! We're here every Tuesday!

            Everybody in the hall laughed. Sally-Anne jumped up onto another bench. "Moulin Rouge is still in the works, but don't forget. It should be out in theaters in April! Stop by Professor Monroe's class and tell her thank you for our impromptu performance."

            The hall exploded with cheers and claps.

            Lauren, who had just come in for the rehearsal, looked at them all. "God, what a cast I have to put up with. Mr. Luhrman would not be impressed.

            There were only two people who weren't there in the Great Hall while the singing fest went on inside. We don't even have to tell you. And we all know what they were doing too.

            Harry and Hermione were off in a dark corner two floors up. They could almost feel the floor vibrate from the cheers below them when they stopped for some-er-air.

            "We need to talk. Tonight, after rehearsal." Hermione said.

            "All right." Harry breathed. "Where?"

            Hermione thought for a minute. "My room, everyone else should be asleep and no one will be coming to see me."

            "I'll be waiting for you." Harry said, a devilish smile on his face.

            "Go, get down to rehearsal." Hermione said, shooing him away, "Go!"

            Harry and Hermione ran down the stairs and waited outside the door. Harry went in first. Hermione heard Ron ask, "Where were you?" and Harry reply, "I needed to grab my script from my room."

            "Harry, you need to remember to bring that, or how will you memorize your lines?" Lauren said.

            Hermione waited a few more minutes before coming in. "Sorry everyone, I lost time while in the library!"

            "Meet our two leads-the most forgetful people in the world!" Hannah said. Everyone laughed.

            "The creative types are usually like that." Padma assured her.

            "Let's get to work!" Lauren said. "We'll start with Sparkling Diamonds. Take it from Ron's line."

            "It's her, the Sparkling Diamond," said Ron, trying to lisp.

            _The French are glad to die for love_

_            They delight in fighting duels._

            Then Harry came over in narrative "But someone else was to meet Satine that night,"

_            But I prefer a man who leaves_

_            And gives expensive jewels_

            "Zidler's investor: The Duke"

            Hermione started dancing-very conditional steps. They were still working on the routine and there was the lack of trapeze for her to be swinging down on.

            "Cut!" Lauren yelled. "Hermione, have you been practicing your steps?"

            "I couldn't, I needed the other dancers!" Hermione protested.

            Lauren sighed "Tomorrow morning, everyone is getting up early to practice steps." Groans came from the crowd. "If you are on 'Sparkling Diamonds' or 'Hindi Sad Diamonds' you had better be down here at five in the morning" There were even more groans. "This is the theatre life, get used to it. And I'll bring in cinnamon rolls for breakfast" she added.

            "When are we going to have all our sets?" Morag asked.

            "Well, the theatre in Hogsmeade is almost finished. It's late November now, it should be finished by Christmas. Anyone who isn't working on a scene will be working on sets. Now, let's get to work on 'Come What May'; we haven't heard that sung in a while."

            Harry and Hermione got up on stage. "Do you want to start on my line?" Harry asked.

            "How about Hermione's before it." Lauren directed them.

            Hermione put on a cold face. "On opening night I have to sleep with the Duke, and the jealousy will drive you mad."

            Harry stood up and started walking, with Hermione following him. "Christian" she murmured.

            Harry stopped and turned around. "We'll write a song, and put it in the show, and no matter how often you sing it or hear it or whistle it or hum it, you'll know what it means; that we love each other. I promise I won't get jealous."

            "Don't talk that way Christian. We have to end it." Hermione pushed him out of the way.

            Harry summed up his nerve and started singing.

Christian: _Never knew I could feel like this_

_Like I've never seen the sky before_

_Want to vanish inside your kiss_

_Seasons may change_

_Winter to spring_

_But I love you_

_Until the end of time_

_Come what may_

_Come what may_

_I will love you_

_Until my dying day_

Christian& Satine: _Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place_

_Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace_

_Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste_

It all revolves around you 

_And there's no mountain too high_

_No river too wide_

_Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side_

Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide 

_But I love you until the end of time_

_Come what may_

_Come what may_

I will love you until my dying day 

            Out in the 'audience' Lavender and Draco were playing out their parts. "This ending's silly" Lavender said in a cockney accent. "Why would the courtesan go for the penniless writer? Oops, I mean Sitar player."

Come what may I will love you 

_Come what may_

Yes I will love you Until my dying day 

            Everyone clapped, except, of course, Draco.

            "I don't like this ending" he said.

            "And cut!" Lauren said. "Well done everyone! Lavender, you did great, Draco, way to go on your rage, keeping it hidden yet obvious. And Harry and Hermione, wow! If I didn't know better, I'd say you two really were in love."

            Everyone there laughed, some in a nervous fashion. Over half the cast knew about the pool and even kept track of the bets. Harry and Hermione, of course, had to act like that was a preposterous accusation.

            "Well, let's move on to the opening again, Harry we need to work on the tone of your monologue."

            No one, not one person saw the murderous glint in Draco's eyes.

            "Hermione will be mine" he whispered under his breath.

            **Thing ONe: Draco scares me.**

**            Thing TWo: Yes, but he's so cute**

**            Thing ONe: Anyway, review this thing NOW, because we're soulless and we feed off the reviews of mortals**

**            Thing TWo: We'll love you forever if you do review!**

**            This has been a Thing ONe and Thing TWo production**


	4. John Mayer is sung, Justin finds out, an...

**Thing ONe: I am touched.**

**Thing TWo: And I may not be the emotional one, but I am too. I finally got the Moulin Rouge! book!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Thing ONe: No hun-bun, I was talking about the reviewers! You guys gave us such good reviews!**

**Thing TWo: No flamers accusing us of blasphemy!**

**Thing ONe: We'll get one of those…some day. Probably from J.K. Rowling.**

**Thing TWo: Or Baz Luhrman.**

**Thing ONe: Anyway, we are so happy with your reviews. To think, people wanting us to update!**

**Thing TWo: That's why we're working hard on new chapters. Even though neither of us has any real idea where this is going.**

**Thing ONe: Very true, we just make it up as we go.**

**Thing Two: Been working well so far! So, please read, review, check back impatiently for new chapters!**

**Thing TWo's Dedication o' the Day: Emily, you've been a great friend this year and a total pain in the arse, since you keep on telling me to update. If it weren't for you bugging me almost everyday, this wouldn't be going as quickly. Thing ONe may help me with my sanity, but you always loan me a _crayon_ and a _gomme_ every time I leave my _trousse_ in my _sac à dos_ before _français_. I love you girl, always rember that (and while you were the one who misspelled it, I am the one who teased you until it became a private joke)**

**Disclaimer: Moulin Rouge! belongs to Baz Luhrman. The poor Harry Potter characters that we are bending to our will belong to J.K. Rowling. The quote about "Harry without enough backbone" is from 'Subject to Change' by LilyPotter (We adapted the quote a bit. Sorry!), an excellent fic. 'Your Body Is A Wonderland' belongs to the amazingly talented and amazingly sexy John Mayer (Thing TWo is just a bit biased). And our tribute to Sarah Dessen's book 'This Lullaby' is when Hermione says "Chee-sy".**

**We are making no money off this whatsoever, and if we were Thing TWo would have enough money to buy all the Moulin Rouge! paraphernalia she wanted.**

            Ron watched his two best friends carefully as they said their lines. There was something different about them. He had no idea what it was, but there was some new aura floating around the both of them. He wondered if it had anything to do with their lateness, or Hermione's sudden tendency to sigh and smile, or Harry just acting…not like Harry. 

            Ron wished it were that they had finally gotten together, but they hadn't mentioned anything to him. They had made a deal that if any of them started dating someone they would tell the others. All three had stuck to it; never once had they lied about their choice of dates. But neither Harry nor Hermione had said anything to him.

            Ron, of course, knew about the pool. Since he knew them best, Lauren had designated him in charge of reporting back with news. Justin was an informant too, since he was Head Boy and spent a lot of time with Hermione. And everyday, the news was the same. Everyone was getting quite restless with all this waiting for something to happen. Almost everyone knew of the huge plan to get them together, all except Malfoy and his cronies, and they were planning on keeping it that way, thank you very much. Undoubtedly, Malfoy would find some way to ruin it all.

            Harry and Hermione, of course, were not allowed to know what was going on at all. That would undermine all plans. Ron could picture their expression perfectly if they knew what was going on. Hermione would sputter loudly and start yelling at Ron about what a childish thing this was. Harry would probably cuss a lot. And both would fiercely deny being in love with each other.

            That-of course- was total bull. The fact that they liked each other was clear to almost everyone, except them. The total in love-ness between them had been there for years, but both were too daft to see it. Ron had asked Lauren about if Harry and Hermione did get together, would it work out? "What does that look like to you?" Lauren asked, pointing to Harry and Hermione arguing about their homework on the Mayan Cake-Eaters. They ate rocks (said so in the book), but Harry said it was cakes.

            "Rocks!"

            "Cake!"

            "Rocks!"

            "Cake!"

            "_Rocks_."

            "What kind of rocks?"

            "Quartz."

"Harry not having enough backbone?" Ron asked.

"No." Lauren said. "Pretend that Hermione has red hair and green eyes. Now what does that look like to you?"

"James Potter not having enough backbone?" Ron ventured

            "Nope, you're seeing mirror images of James and Lily at that age. So in other words, I think they do have a fairly good chance, they just need to open their eyes." Lauren said. Lauren had been friends with the Marauders for a while; she had been a year younger than them. And like everyone else in the school, she had watched Lily and James' relationship with great interest. More importantly, she had watched James with great interest.

Flashback! Insert your own waves, mist, stars, glitter, etc here.

            Junior Auror Lauren Monroe ran down the street to Godric's Hollow. The Apparition point had been placed annoyingly far away from the house she had to go. She stopped in front of a house that was smoking slightly. She didn't stop because of the sight-she had seen worse. It was the people. The front door had been thrown open. Lying dead on the floor was James Potter. Lauren muffled a scream and wiped off her sudden tears.

Lauren stumbled into the house. She didn't like what she was doing, but she had no choice. Inside, she could hear baby Harry crying. On the floor were Harry and his dead mother, Lily Potter.

Lauren, trying to stow her emotions until she was out, picked up the baby from off the floor. There was a horrible cut on his forehead. She ran out of the house with him, holding him close.

"It's all right Harry, don't cry." she whispered to the baby, who didn't stop crying. Outside the house was a number of muggles. She performed Memory Charms on all of them ("It was only a gas explosion"). She refused to let go of the still crying Harry. After mind-wiping ten muggles, she heard someone running behind her. 

"Lauren! What's going-dear God." It was Sirius. "What happened, are they- what happened?"

"They're dead Sirius." She croaked, still trying to be the ever-unemotional Auror. "They're both dead, only Harry lived."

"Oh God, oh bloody damning God" he said, taking Harry from her, "Don't cry Harry. Uncle Siri is here now." Harry calmed a bit, sniffling slightly. "Daddy?" he garbled in half baby-speak.

Sirius gulped. "No Harry, daddy can't be here right now. Maybe later."

"Siri"

"That's right, Siri's here". Sirius looked up at Lauren, who nodded. 'He can go with you' she mouthed.

They stood there, Sirius holding Harry, staring at the floods of Ministry officials who were there. Finally, a familiar face in the crowd. 

"Sirius! Lauren" The sound of Hagrid's voice made them turn around. Hagrid easily parted the crowd. "Dumbledore told me. I'm sorry."

Sirius, who seemed to have been looking worse as time progressed, looked up at Hagrid. "Don't worry Sirius, it'll be all right. Lily and James were good people and look at their son. He'll be just like them."

            "I hope so." Sirius said. "I'm going to take him with me. He'll learn everything James was going to teach him."

            Hagrid looked uncomfortable. "Er-about that. Dumbledore wants me to get Harry and take him to his aunt and uncle's. They need to know what happened. And Dumbledore thinks Harry should be with his family, for now."

            "What?" Sirius asked, looking shocked. "Lily told me all about them. They'll be horrible to him; they'll turn him out before Dumbledore has a chance to explain himself. I'm his godfather Hagrid, let me take him."

            Lauren looked at Sirius. "Let Hagrid take him Sirius." She said quietly.

            Sirius saw that there was no choice. "Take him then. And take my flying motorbike, I won't be needing it."

            Sirius got Hagrid accustomed to the bike and found a place for him to hold Harry. "Good bye Harry," Sirius said in a strangled voice, "I'll be seeing you again soon, not to worry."

            Lauren kissed Harry on his forehead, where the scar was. "Bye Harry. I'll probably see you and Sirius wrecking havoc on London."

            And then Hagrid was gone.

            Lauren collapsed onto the sidewalk. She put her head in her hands and started crying. She heard Sirius sit next to her and put his arms around her. "I know, it's horrible. They're gone."

            "You don't understand Sirius, I loved him." Lauren whimpered, still not looking up.

            "What?"

            "I loved James. I always did. When he married Lily, I lost all hope. I loved Lily too, but I had always hoped that it would be us." Lauren cried. "And now he's dead and he never knew."

            "We all have our secrets Lauren" Sirius said. "And we regret some more than others." Sirius was having an annoyingly cool head now that she was having a nervous breakdown.

            "They're gone." She cried.

            "I know, I'm gonna miss them. I really will," Sirius said, "At least I got to say goodbye to them today. And so did Moony and Peter. And now they're gone. Lily and James-life's constants- aren't here. I'm sure they're giving the angels hell. Lily's probably complaining that this is a very inconvenient time for her to die, since the Department of Mysteries isn't finished with the project she was working on. James is asking her why won't she just tell him what the bloody project is since they're dead now. Then they'll start fighting."

            Lauren giggled through her tears.

            "But they wouldn't want us to sit here blubbering like idiots. They'd want us to move on with our lives and be-and be happy" Sirius croaked out, tightening his grip on Lauren's shoulder. "Do you think we're going to be alright?"

            Lauren considered it while drying her eyes. "I believe so. We've got Harry, and if he's anything like the two of them, then we may have too much Lily and James too handle."

            "Here, here!" Sirius said, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "I'm sure you have some God-awful report to write up about this, and I've got to find Peter."

            Sadly, Lauren did have a report to write on this. "You're right. We've both got to go. Why do you need  to find Peter?"

            Sirius' face darkened. "Reasons."

            Lauren didn't pursue it. Sirius walked her to the Apparition point. "I'll be seeing you." He said.

            Lauren hugged him one last time. "Will you be alright? Do you want to spend the night at my place or Remus'? I'm sure he's heard by now."

            "No, I'm going to walk a bit. It will be alright, but we'll miss them." And with that, Lauren watched as Sirius Lee Black walked slowly down the street.

End of flashback

**Quick annoying author's note right in the middle of the story-we're very sorry.**

**Thing ONe: Okay, Thing TWo is sitting right next to me crying.**

**Thing TWo: I'm sorry, I hardly ever cry about something I write, but that was very emotional to write!**

**Thing ONe: It was, and here's the reason for it. Lauren is a character we created and we wanted to show a bit about her past and who she is. An Auror turned teacher who was friends with the Marauders. More info about her might leak out later and-Thing TWo could you keep the stupid crying down?!?!?!**

**Thing TWo: Sorry, stupid PMS.**

**Thing One: Anyway, very important stuff is going to happen right about-now**

            Lauren heard the next day of what had happened to Sirius. Fifteen years later, she heard of his pardon. The Daily Prophet featured a front-page article on it. She had still yet to see him. That was third on her big list of things to do. Second was finishing the play without any major casualties. First was to get Harry and Hermione together.

            Harry, Hermione, and Ron were sitting in one corner of the room, talking conspiratorially. Hermione got up to grab a glass of water.

            Hermione was quickly confronted by Draco, "Can I talk to you?"

            Hermione eyed him suspiciously. "Alright."

            She and Draco walked to the back of the Great Hall, not talking. "Where are they going?" Harry asked.

            "Who knows," Ron said. "Tell me more about that explosion in the Charms room I missed."

            "Talk Malfoy." Hermione said once they were out of hearing range of the others.

            "I was wondering if…" Draco said slowly, looking at the ground. "Well, I was wondering if maybe you'd consider," This was not going the way Draco had planned. He sounded like an idiot and every time he looked up at Hermione, she was looking at him like he was an idiot. "Going out with me."

            "What?" Hermione asked, praying to every god she knew of-including Norse, Greek and Hindu- that she hadn't heard what she just had.

            "I asked you if you would go out with me." Draco said, reddening.

            Hermione quickly considered her options. Malfoy was a respectable person now. When his father had forced him to join the Death Eaters, Malfoy refused and escaped with ten fully armed Death Eaters after him. Though he was still hated by Gryffindors, it was now more in the over-all Slytherin hatred instead of something personal. He could be fairly genial when he wanted to, though he still had a violent mean streak in him that surfaced very rarely.

            If she refused him, everyone would know that Hermione was dating someone else. Harry would be quickly named as her new boyfriend. People outside the castle would hear about it and then…

            Hermione mentally gulped. She and Harry had talked and they came to the conclusion that Hermione was already high on Voldemort's hit list, and if he knew that Hermione was now Harry's girlfriend, she would be second only to Harry on his "People that need to die" list. That's why they couldn't tell anyone, not even Ron, about the relationship. Danger was everywhere.

            But if she said yes, it broke Hermione's heart to think of what she would be doing to Harry. There was only one conclusion

            "Well, Malfoy, as you know I just broke up with Ron." Technically true, except it was a mutual break-up that occurred over the summer, "And though we're friends now, I'm still feeling upset by it."

            Draco's face was falling at a steady rate.

            "I'm not sure if I want to date now. But if you'd give me a week to think about it, then you'll have my answer."

            Draco perked up a bit. "Well, think about it. We're both available. And there is a dance coming up, you'll be needing someone to go with." Then, with one last charming smile, he turned around and went to talk with Crabbe.

            Hermione nodded, feeling the impending doom that she was wrapped up in. She hadn't even thought about what she was going to do at the Yule Ball. She walked in a dead sort of way back to Harry and Ron. "What was that about?" Ron asked.

            Hermione summed up every nerve in her body. "Malfoy asked me out." 

            Ron went purple with a combination of surprise and rage. Harry looked like he had been slapped and was currently at the anger stage.

            "I said I'd consider it." Hermione told them quickly.

            This just seemed to make things worse. "YOU SAID WHAT?" Ron yelled, drawing attention to their corner.

Now Harry looked like he'd been told someone had died. Hermione knew this look well, like no one else did. It was Harry's Sad-And-Heartbroken-Yet-Someone's-Gonna-Die look. He reserved it only for one occasion, and that was Voldemort. But it looked like Draco Malfoy had just gotten an invitation to that party.

            "Quiet Ron!" Hermione hissed. "You know that I couldn't say no! He would've gotten angry. And he's become quiet respectable now, half the girls in the school want to go out with him. And he's a Prefect." Hermione added, hoping the last line might make Ron believe her.

            Ron still looked murderous. And the look on Harry's face was making her want to cry. "So he's pressuring you to date him." Ron said.

            "No!" Hermione said, "I meant, I don't want one of our leads to get angry and have a huge fight. People would take sides and then we wouldn't get any work done! Ron, I need to talk with Harry, and we're going to leave you here so you can cool down. There will be no contact with Malfoy whatsoever, you understand." Ron nodded dully.

            Hermione and Harry hastily stole out of the room. They didn't speak as they found a deserted hall to talk in.

            They stood looking at each other. "I have to say 'yes' Harry." Hermione whispered, "If I don't, then everyone will know about us, and then-"

            "Voldemort would find out." Harry finished for her.

            "Yes."

            Harry looked at her. "It still hurts though."

            A few tears rolled out of Hermione's eyes. "Harry…" She wrapped her arms around his waist and cried into his chest. Harry smoothed back her hair and tried to get a grip on himself. The thought of Hermione and Malfoy together was making him feel murderous. And from what it sounded like, Malfoy knew how dedicated Hermione was to the show and knew that if she said 'no', there would be a fight, so that meant he was almost pressuring her into it.

            Harry had forced himself the past year and a half to be respectful towards Malfoy, and that was no easy feat, but Harry had been able to contain himself. But now this, it felt like Malfoy was trying to take Hermione from him and Ron. It felt like stealing. He didn't want anyone to steal his innocent Mione from him. The sweet girl who was crying her eyes out, all because of Malfoy and…him.

            Harry felt a surge of guilt. Hermione didn't want to hurt him, and he was causing her all this distress. Hermione could be so selfless sometimes, even if it meant hurting herself. Harry tightened his grip around her shoulders, erasing any space left between the two.

            Harry said the most comforting words he could think of "It'll be alright, it's okay, don't worry. I love you, don't worry."

            Harry could hear Hermione's muffled response. "I love you too. But I can't risk your life or mine. I have to say yes."

            "No you don't." Harry assured her.

            "Yes I do, he might quit the play or something." Hermione looked up at Harry, her eyes red, the mascara that Lavender had made her put on running. She looked at Harry's shirt, which was stained with tears and –of course- mascara. "Oh, Harry, I ruined your shirt, I'm-"

            "I'm a wizard, remember?" He took out his wand and pointed it at his shirt. "Cleansiona" His shirt became instantly white again, almost glowing in the dark hall.

            "Nice." Hermione commented, wiping away her remaining tears. "We had better get back in there, Ron will think you've killed me."

            "No, I'll give him those honors." Harry said, "Am I still meeting you tonight at eight?"

            "Yes, Justin's going to be studying with the other Ernie and Hannah." Hermione whispered. "As long as you are out by ten, we'll be fine."

            "C'mon let's go back to the hall." Harry said, kissing Hermione one last time.

            And trying very hard to hide their emotions, The Poet and The Courtesan walked back into the Great Hall, where a very angry Painter was waiting for them.

            Later, the Head Boy and Girl common room was a mess. There were homework papers everywhere and some leftover food. The people on the couch seemed totally oblivious though. Harry and Hermione were sitting lazily on the couch, Harry having wrapped his arms around Hermione who was absentmindedly playing with his hair. Harry was humming a song quietly and started singing it in her ear.

_We got the afternoon_

_You got this room for two_

_One thing I've left to do_

_Discover me_

_Discovering you_

            Harry let go of his grip on Hermione and helped her up. In the warm glow of the fire, Harry started dancing with her. "Chee-sy" Hermione said, laughing a bit as they danced, narrowly avoiding a stack of books.

_One mile to every inch of_

_Your skin like porcelain_

_One pair of candy lips and_

_Your bubblegum tongue_

_And if you want love_

_We'll make it_

_Swimming in a deep sea_

_Of blankets_

_Take all your big plans_

_And break 'em_

_This is bound to be awhile_

_Your body Is a wonderland_

_Your body is a wonder_

_(I'll use my hands)_

_Your body is a wonderland_

_Something 'bout the way_

_Your hair falls in your face_

_I love the shape you take when crawling_

_Towards the pillowcase_

_You tell me where to go and_

_Though I might leave to find it_

_I'll never let your head hit the bed_

_Without my hand behind it_

_You want love?_

_We'll make it_

_Swimming in a deep sea of blankets_

_Take all your big plans_

_And break 'em_

_This is bound to be awhile_

_Your body Is a wonderland_

_Your body is a wonder_

_(I'll use my hands)_

_Your body is a wonderland_

_Damn baby_

_You frustrate me_

_I know you're mine all mine all mine_

_But you look so good it hurts sometime_

_Your body is a wonderland_

_Your body is a wonder_

_(I'll use my hands)_

_Your body is a wonderland_

_Your body is a wonderland_

            Harry, exerting some amazing talent, kissed Hermione between each line, sang, and managed to dance all at the same time. We suppose this is why he was cast in the main role.

            "I love you." Harry said.

            "I love you." Hermione giggled.

            "And me, well, I love everybody. Now would someone please explain to me what is going on?"

            Justin was standing in the doorway, a mildly bemused expression on his face.

            Harry and Hermione immediately moved away from each other and started rapidly giving explanations. "Well, we were just" "Rehearsing!" "Yeah, rehearsing, for the show"

            "Do you really think I believe that?" Justin asked.

            "It was a nice try." Hermione mumbled, looking at her feet.

            "So would one of you like to explain what happened to make the two of you act like the real Satine and Christian?" Justin asked, sitting on the abandoned couch.

            "It…happened?" Harry offered weakly.

            "Hermione, what's your perspective on this?" Justin asked.

            "I don't know. Harry's right, it did just happen. We fell in love. We discovered each other." Hermione said. "Okay, how corny did that sound?"

            "Very." Justin told her. "And why doesn't anyone else no about this? I mean, you can't have told anyone, because Ron's not that good at keeping secrets when it involves the two of you."

            "Harry, you can answer that better than I can." Hermione said.

            "Yeah, I can. It all comes down to Voldemort," Justin shivered when Harry said his name, "if he found out that I was dating Hermione, well, as my friend she's already in serious danger. If it were known that I was in love with her, she'd be dead, not to be morbid or anything." Harry moved over to Hermione and put his arm around her. "Enough people have been killed by Voldemort, I don't want to be the cause of any more deaths."

            "So can you please not tell anyone?" Hermione pleaded. "It's too dangerous. There are so many spies, I don't want to be the cause of an attack on the castle or become bait for Harry."

            "You really love her?" Justin asked Harry.

"Yeah, I do" Harry said, smiling down at Hermione.

            "Fine then, your secret stays with me. I won't speak a word to anyone." Justin said, getting off the couch and walking towards the stairs to his room. "But Hermione, I think it would be best if Harry left sometime soon, because if someone saw him leaving your room at five in the morning, the rumors would really be flying."

            "Alright" Hermione said, and Justin started climbing the stairs. "And Justin," he turned around. "Thanks." Justin smiled and continued going up the stairs. Out of the corner of the eye, he saw Harry kiss Hermione goodnight and he could hear them say their goodbyes.

            "Night Mione. Love you."

            "Love you too. Come what may."

            "Come what may."

            Justin pulled out some parchment and grabbed a quill and some ink. He was just about to write to Lauren (technically, he wasn't breaking his promise, he said he wouldn't "speak a word to anyone" this wasn't speaking, this was writing) when he stopped. Harry and Hermione trusted him, and he was betraying their secret. If he told Lauren, who would tell the rest of the class, he was endangering them.

            Justin put up the parchment. Considering he didn't have any money riding on this, it would be perfectly okay to not tell Lauren for a few days.

            Sinking back into his bed, he smirked. "Come what may" Cute really, how they were just like the lead characters.

            After DADA class the next day, Lauren pulled Hermione aside. "I need to talk to you."

            "All right professor." Hermione said.

            "Well Hermione, I've been looking over your grades and progress and I was wondering how you would feel if I nominated you for Auror testing?"

            Hermione looked shocked. She really didn't know what to say, so the first words out of her mouth were, "Why not Harry?"

            Lauren laughed. "Harry's father was an Auror and given Harry's record, he's got a free pass to be an Auror."

            "What about Ron?"

            Lauren thought for a moment. "No, not Ron. He feels too strongly about things. He's passionate about people in a way that many others are not. He cannot keep a cool head when they are in trouble. He must go out and do something dramatic."

            "Like Harry." Hermione whispered.

            "No, actually, Harry's entirely different. He'd do anything to keep you and Ron safe, but he at least gives some thought to what he's doing." Lauren said. "But you, you're exactly what an Auror needs to be. You are passionate about the people you love; yet you don't go berserk when something happens to them. I noticed this last year when Harry…"

            "Fought Voldemort." Hermione finished.

            "Yes, you were clearly upset yet you managed to do your work with out going into crying fits every five seconds. He may have only been gone a few hours, but that is all the time that an Auror has on an assignment like that. Do you want to do it? I'm not forcing you, but I will say this: We need you."

            "All right, I'll do it." Hermione said.

            Lauren's face lit up. "Great! Now, there is one small catch. There is a meeting with the other one's I've nominated, and you can't tell anybody about. The first thing about being an Auror is secrecy."

            "I can't even tell Ron or Harry?" Hermione asked, looking panicked.

            "No, you can't. I know that's going to be hard, but it's the rules. If anyone tells their friends, they get excluded immediately. I may be a teacher, but I can still spy like the best Aurors."

            Hermione sighed. "I can make sacrifices. Ever since Moody-I mean Crouch- said that I had a future as an Auror, I've wanted to be one. But I really can't tell anyone?"

            "I know, it's horrible. I thought I would die when they told me about the meeting when I was your age. I wanted to tell all my friends. I was becoming just like the school's golden boys; James Patter and Sirius Black."

            "They were Aurors?" Hermione asked. Harry had never known what his father's job was.

            "Oh yes, good ones. I wanted to be just like them, anything to be in the same building with them again, we were great friends. I was friends with Remus Lupin too." Lauren said.

            "You were friends with the Marauders?" Hermione asked, incredulous.

            "They were a year older than me, but yes, I was. I had been James' next-door neighbor before Hogwarts. I would keep on talking about old times, but we're getting off subject. I planned the meeting for a day when we weren't having rehearsals, so it's going to be this Sunday night at eight in here. I'll see you then." Lauren smiled at Hermione, a sign that the meeting was over.

            Hermione walked out the door, happy about all that was going on. Sunday night, I'm not doing anything except meeting Harry, she happily mused.

            MEETING HARRY? Hermione panicked. Oh Gods, she thought, what am I going to do…

            Excerpts from the journals Hogwarts students are recommended to keep.

                        Harry Potter, Seventh year, Prefect, Gryffindor House

            I love Mione. It's funny; Hermione once told me that before we were dating I am the only person with the authority to call her Mione. She said it sounds wrong when anyone else says it. Now I feel weird calling her Mione in pubic, in case someone thinks something else is going on.

Why don't I want anyone to know about me dating Mione? Why can I not tell Ron? Why can I not stand on the top of Hogwarts and yell, "May I have your attention please? It has come to my knowledge that Hermione Elizabeth Anne Granger loves me. Since she's the most wonderful woman in the world, I felt you should all know"?

            Voldemort. It all comes down to Voldemort. If word got out that I was dating someone, Hermione would be good as dead the within the hour. And if she got hurt, well I don't know what I would do. Kill somebody probably. And it's not just that she's my girlfriend, it's because she's been my friend for seven years.

            I've got to get to bed, I can't think about this any longer. Question: If I hate this journal, why do I write so much?

                        Hermione Granger, Seventh Year, Head Girl, Gryffindor House

            I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. I love Harry. Guess what? I love Harry.

            So why can't I just tell him "I can't see you Sunday night"? Maybe because I want to be an Auror too much to risk it. I'll reschedule it for later. Yes, that will work; I'll have us meet at six during dinner. That will work perfectly. And I can't stand him up; it would hurt him too much. I hate Harry's hurt look. It's so…okay, so it's an amazing turn-on and he looks just like he did when he was still a kid. That's the one thing Harry isn't anymore. Stupid Voldemort. HA! I called him by name! I am not scared of him…much.

            Anyway, Voldemort has stolen Harry's childhood. Ever since the Third Task. Harry's always Harry, but he's no longer Responsibility-Free Harry. He's Hero Harry, with the weight of the world on his shoulders and I hate him like that. He's always got that worry in the back of his mind. He doesn't say anything about it, but we can all see it.

            What I'm really worried about is when He's going to attack again. It's going to be at the end of the year, and this being Harry's last year; it's going to be a huge attack. I'm scared. Harry can't die. I can't lose him, I can't lose Ron, I can't lose Ginny, and I can't lose Lavender. I can't lose anybody. So many are already gone, like Dean. I didn't even like Dean that much, but now that he's gone, I realized how different things are now. Who will talk about Football during Potions now? God, I can't think about this anymore, it's too depressing.

            Now what am I supposed to do about that stupid Draco problem?

                        Draco Malfoy, Seventh Year, Prefect, Slytherin House

            When will Hermione say yes? All I want to do is take her out on a date…and then there's that other part, but she doesn't need to know about it. This will be perfect. All I have to do is be myself (which I certainly am doing, right?) and she will see what a "Sweet" person I really am. Excuse me while I let out an evil laugh. Mwuhahahaha. That's much better. When is she going-_I don't want to ask Hermione out, I don't want to hurt her, I want to ask_- quiet, of course I need to ask Hermione out, it is all part of the plan.

                    Ginny Weasley, Sixth Year, Proudly NOT a Prefect, Gryffindor House

          Draco Malfoy's looking quite sexy isn't he?


	5. Oh not good, not good, not good!

**Thing ONe: New and exciting chapter here.**

**Thing TWo: Don't kill us for what we do-**

**Thing ONe: Shut up! You're giving away important plot bunnies.**

**Thing TWo: Sorry. This isn't our best of chapters**

**Thing ONe: It's rushed. We needed to get something out.**

**Thing TWo: Anyway, we have to give some credit to LilyPotter again for the Romeo and Juliet idea.**

**Thing ONe: For their production of Romeo and Juliet, we took some of the best lines, namely the ones used in Baz Luhrman's Romeo+Juliet.**

**Thing TWo: We hope you enjoy.**

Disclaimer: Shakespeare owns Romeo and Juliet, we just butchered, we mean, abridged it. Elton John owns Your Song. "Throw me a Curve" is sung by the Go-Go's. The idea of Justin playing for another team (if you watch Seinfeld, you know what we're talking about) is from Paradigm of Uncertainty, by Lori Summers. The characters we are torturing belong to J.K. Rowling. 

**Thing TWo's mantra: Ewan McGregor is sexy, John Mayer is sweet, and Prince Harry is rich.**

            The next Saturday dawned early and bright. The dancers dragged themselves out of bed and into the Great Hall where Lauren was waiting for them with cinnamon rolls, specially made by the house-elves.

            In the side room, all the girls were getting into their corsets. Lauren had made them rehearse in their corsets to get used to dancing with them. Parvati and Lavender were lacing Hermione and Padma up.

            "Come on," Lavender said, "suck it in Hermione, you've got to be thinnest of all."

            Padma, who had been increasingly sick of the corsets, pulled away from Parvati. "I am not going to rehearse with this on today! I am sick of wearing them and I'd like to be able to breath when I dance today. Who's with me?"

            All of the girls raised their hands.

            "Great." Parvati said, conjuring up some sheets of music, "Take these and follow me."

            Lauren was sitting in her director's chair, treating herself to a cinnamon bun, when she looked up to see twenty-odd girls in their camisoles and warm-up pants marching toward her. They all stopped in front of her chair and looked pointedly at her.

            "Yes?" Lauren asked.

            Padma nudged Hermione. She looked down at her paper and started singing.

Clothes hanger Lollipop 

_Magazine Photo op_

I'd rather be a pin-up girl 

_Than zero size_

_Throw me a curve look so fine_

            The rest of the girls joined in for the rest of the song

Wishing there was less of you? 

_Are you really sure_

_How much less is more_

_Girls are shapely by design_

_Exactly what you've got _

_Is so easy to adore_

Clothes hanger Lollipop 

_Magazine Photo op_

I'd rather be a pin-up girl 

_Than zero size_

_Throw me a curve not a straight_

_Narrow line_

_Throw me a curve and I'll show you _

_Mine_

_Get the message it's divine_

_Throw me a curve look so fine_

_Microthin is way too in_

_I'm not so sure_

_I'd rather just be me_

_Seems everybody in the world_

_Thinks that x-ray girl_

_Are the only way to be_

_Yeah!_

Clothes hanger Lollipop 

_Magazine Photo op_

I'd rather be a pin-up girl 

_Than zero size_

_Throw me a curve not a straight_

_Narrow line_

_Throw me a curve and I'll show you _

_Mine_

_Get the message It's divine_

_Throw me a curve look so fine_

_Throw me a curve not some straight_

_Narrow line_

_Throw me a curve don't it look_

_So divine_

_Throw me a curve_

_Throw me a curve_

_Throw me a curve_

Look so fine 

            "In case you didn't catch that" Padma said, slightly out of breath, "We don't want to wear our corsets."

            Lauren was trying not to laugh. "A powerful form of protest girls" she said. "All right, you may have a break from corsets"

            All the girls cheered.

            By the time Harry, Ron, and all the other actors had come in, they were just finishing up "Hindi Sad Diamonds"

            "Girl's best friend" Hermione sang in a low voice while Justin came up behind her and said "She is mine" while putting his hands on some-er-interesting places.

            "Good thing Justin doesn't exactly, well, go that way." Ron said. "If not, I'd be up there punching him." He looked at Harry.  "I'm really glad it was you who got the part, if it was anyone else, I don't think I could've stood it. I'm protective of her, I can't help it."

            "And yet you two hold the record for the most painfully short romance of all time." Harry said. 

            "It's not my fault!" Ron laughed. "Well, technically it is. But at least we cut it off early before things could become too painful." Ron felt like saying 'you two should really get together' but held his tongue, thanks in part to the end of dance practice.

            Lauren gathered together all the actors. "Now, we're going to be doing something different today. The theatre in Hogsmeade was finished two weeks early." She paused for cheers. "So as an early Christmas present, we'll be rehearsing down there. Also, tomorrow we won't be practicing Moulin Rouge! either."

            "What?" the cast looked around confused. That was the only thing that they had been doing for almost two months.

            "We'll be doing a play of my choice, and I'll explain when we're down there." Lauren told them in a pacifying voice. "You have twenty minutes to get down there, so I suggest you hurry." Everyone started breaking out of the group while Lauren shouted above the crowd "And girls, put something on over your warm-up clothes!"

            Hermione grabbed Harry and Ron's hands and started pulling them through the crowd. "Hurry up!" she cried.

            "Hermione put a jacket on!" Ron said, looking at her bare shoulders.

            "Here." Harry said, taking off his cloak, "Wear this."

            Hermione was about to refuse, but when the icy December air hit her as the doors opened, she took it. Ron was practically screaming 'Proof! Solid evidence! He gave her his cloak, he likes her!' but once again shut his mouth.

            They ran through Hogsmeade, which only took them ten minutes, but they were sorely out of breath by the time they got there. Undaunted, Hermione pushed open the unlocked doors of the new "Hogsmeade Globe Theatre" 

            She took a deep breath when they got in. "It smells like a theatre," and continued running.

            Harry and Ron looked at each other. "What is it supposed to smell like?" Ron mouthed.

            Hermione jumped up on the stage and spun around. "I want to live here!" she shouted.

            Ron climbed on to the stage followed by Harry who said, "Fine, we'll leave you. Won't miss you much."

            "Fine."

            "Fine."

            "Fine!"

            "Fine!"

            Ron was looking back and forth between them as they repeated the word 'fine' over and over again.

            "FINE!"

            "**FINE!**"

            "_FINE!_"

            "My gift is my song!"

            Hermione stopped arguing. Harry was smiling broadly. Hermione's scowl softened and she joined in. "And this one's for you."

            Ron mumbled, "What the hell" and joined in with "And you can tell everybody"

            And then all three "That this is your song." They all started singing in a joyful chorus, Harry and Hermione doing their dance while Ron shot brightly colored sparks out of his wand.

_It may be quite simple_

_But now that it's done_

_I hope you don't mind_

_I hope you don't mind_

_That I put down in words_

_How wonderful life is now you're in the world_

_I sat on the roof_

_And I kicked off the moss_

_Well some of these voices they got me quite cross_

_But the sun's been kind_

_While I wrote this song_

_It's for people like you that keep it turned on_

_So excuse me forgetting 'bout these things I do_

_You see I've forgotten if their green or blue_

_And well the thing is_

_What I really mean_

_You've got the sweetest eyes I've ever seen._

            The rest of the cast had filtered in by the time the song was almost finished. They took seats in the front row to watch what can only be called a spectacle. Hermione was being picked up by Harry, though she still wearing his long robes. Harry was singing loudest of all. And Ron was working on having live doves come from out of his wand, although he had already littered the stage with glitter and confetti.

            They all finished up with "How wonderful life is now you're in the world!" and Ron shot large red fireworks out of the wand.

            The theatre was silent for three seconds, and then broke out in to uproarious applause.

            "You three are such exhibitionists." Lauren said. "You must've been born to act. All right, off stage. We have some conferring to do."

            Everyone gathered around Lauren. "We're rehearsing regularly today, but what we do tomorrow is for fun, but also as an experiment. We will be performing a different play, with characters similar to your own. I want to see how you can act when you're playing someone like you, but totally different." There was a general murmur of interest. "Now, here's the cast list."

            As soon as she said the first name, there were cheers and groans all around

**_Romeo: Harry_**

**_Juliet: Hermione_**

**_Tybalt: Draco_**

**_Mercutio: Ron_**

**_Friar Laurence: Ron_**

**_Paris: Draco_**

**_Nurse: Sally-Anne_**

**_Benvolio: Terry_**

**_Prince Escalus: Justin_**

**_Balthasar: Colin_**

**_Lady Montague: Parvati_**

**_Lord Montague: _**

**_Lady Capulet: Lavender_**

**_Lord Capulet: Justin_**

**_Sampson: Morag_**

**_Gregory: Colin_**

**_Abram: Crabbe_**

****

            "Yes children, we are doing Romeo and Juliet!" Lauren cried. "Come and get some scripts. You'll notice that some of you have more than one part. Like Draco; you have the part of Tybalt and Paris. Tybalt is like the very violent side of the Duke, while Paris is more lovesick. Ron, you are both Mercutio and Friar Laurence. You've got to split your character in two and find the different strands. 

"Now, I know that some of you don't have parts, especially the dancers. You're lucky. You get to sit back and watch what will be an interesting performance. You've got Today and until two o'clock tomorrow to practice. I don't want you to have memorized it, but I want you to be comfortable in your parts. We'll just run through it with scripts. No worries."

            Everyone nodded. "And Harry and Hermione" Lauren added. "You two will have to snog for real tomorrow."

            Harry started looking around, anywhere but at Hermione. Hermione was blushing.

            "Okay everyone, let's start." Lauren said. "Get backstage now. We're going to do Roxanne"

            Later that day, Harry and Hermione were in the Leaky Cauldron having Butterbeer and doing homework. 

            "I want to propose a bet." Harry said suddenly.

            Hermione considered. "All right."

            "I want to see how long we can go before people realize we're dating." Harry said. "Should be fun."

            "So, what you're saying is that we have to hide that we're in love for more than just safety reasons." Hermione asked, looking shocked. "Okay, I'm in."

            They shook hands, and went back to their homework, as though the discussion had never happened.

The next day all the actors gathered in the theatre. And thus began the Hogwarts version of Romeo and Juliet.

Hannah came out first, as the narrator

**Hannah**: Two households, both alike in dignity

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.

            Then Terry, Colin and Morag came out, all awkwardly holding swords and scripts. They weren't used to playing parts that weren't madcap; so needless to say, it wasn't the brightest of performances.

            The fight scene went amazingly well since almost no dialogue was needed.

            The play went on. It wasn't fine theatre, but it was fun to watch. But Ginny Weasley wasn't watching the play exactly.

            She was sitting with the dancers, watching Draco Malfoy as Paris. She sighed. He really was irresistible. Too bad he was going after Hermione. She knew that she'd have no chance with him, especially since he hated her (but she thought that was even more romantic) and she was a sixth year. But a girl has every right to drool, doesn't she?

            Harry was feeling especially nervous. He had to kiss Hermione on stage, something he knew was coming soon, but they had been stalling doing it for a while. Lauren had told them that they only had to kiss in rehearsals when they were comfortable with it. But now they had to do it in front of everyone, and they still didn't want everyone to know. And thee was no chance this would be a chaste kiss on the cheek. Harry had kissed Hermione, and there was no chance of not snogging. So in other words, they were doomed

            The play moved on, slowly at first but gaining speed. Before Harry knew it, he and Ron and all the others were at the party. And that meant that he would be kissing Hermione soon.

            Mentally shaking himself, Harry snuck up behind Hermione and took her hand

            **Harry**: If I profane with my unworthiest hand

            This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this;

            My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

            To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss

            **Hermione**: Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,

            Which mannerly devotion shows in this;

            For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

            And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss

            **Harry**: O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do!

            The pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair

            **Hermione**: Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.

            **Harry**: Then move not while my prayer's effect I take

            Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purged

            **Hermione**: Then have my lips the sin that they have took.

            **Harry**: Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged!

            Give me my sin again

Then Harry kissed her.

            This was one of those classic, long, movie, clinging, lots of tongue kisses. The sort of thing that you might blush about in mixed company. This might have been how Shakespeare had wanted it, but even Lauren hadn't been expecting this kind of passion.

            Finally, it seemed like ages, Harry and Hermione broke apart, both looking at the ground. It was lucky for them that Sally-Anne came on stage to get Hermione for her scene, otherwise there might have been an interesting confrontation coming up.

            As they both left the stage, Ron whispered to Ginny, "Either they like each other, or Hermione and Harry need to win an Oscar."

            The play continued. The kiss had been really the most exciting thing, it seemed to the cast& crew that the Bard had a tendency to run on a bit. Some of the scenes were pointless, and others were unintelligible. Lauren was starting to wish she had given them the Baz Luhrman copy of Romeo+Juliet.

            Then it got really exciting during the rally big fight scene. Both Ron and Draco were very good with swords. They never really found out how Harry was since his complex fight choreography was to a) be kicked a lot and b) stab Draco. By the time Draco was lying dead on the floor and Harry had just shouted the lines "Either thou or I, or both must go with him" the entire cast was up on their feet cheering.

            But no matter how boring 'Romeo and Juliet- Really Long and Uncut' was, they were enjoying themselves. The actors were learning, the dancers were having fun watching, and everyone was enjoying the life that was brought into it. Hermione was really enjoying the fight with Justin, since she had never had much of a chance to fight with her parents. She felt like she was getting her aggressions out by yelling at her 'father'.

            By six, it was almost all over. Harry was kneeling in front of Hermione (who had been but on her grave, really a table) and giving his last lines.

            **Harry**: The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss

            A dateless bargain to engrossing death!

            Thy drugs are quick

            This with a kiss I die.

And he kissed Hermione softly and slumped down in feigned death.

            Then Hermione woke up (at the most inconvenient of times really, if she had been two minutes sooner, neither would've died!) and saw Harry 'dead'.

            Hermione: Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!

            This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.

And then Hermione was dead. And the play was over.

            Everyone was on their feet clapping, even Harry and Hermione, newly risen from the dead.

            "So what did you think?" Lauren asked.

            "I think that ending was better than Moulin Rouge!" Ginny shouted out.

            "Why?"

            Ginny thought for a moment. "Well, they both died, they'll be together forever. In Moulin Rouge! only Satine dies, and Christian has to be without her."

            "Couldn't he date someone else?" Justin asked.

            "But she was his first love, and she died in his arms. He'll be depressed for life. How could he date again?" Padma asked.

            "But couldn't he move on?" Harry asked.

            "All right, enough discussion!" Lauren said. "Go, get food. Talk about it at dinner. Go bore your friends with the gory details!"

            And they all did just that.

            Then Hermione had to go to the Auror's meeting. We really would like to tell you about it. But we can't. What's discussed there will be important, and we can't give ANYTHING away. It would be evil. Really, you would hate us. We know that you want to know about who was there, what they were wearing, what cocktails were being served, but we can't tell you. In fact, we weren't allowed in. Not on the VIP list. So let's move on to…later. After the meeting.

            Hermione was smiling as she came into the common room, and was going up the stairs when a voice startled her.

            "Where were you?"

            It was Harry. He was sitting on a chair with a concerned look on his face. "Where were you, I was worried?"

            That's when Hermione remembered she was supposed to meet Harry. She had forgotten to reschedule. But she couldn't tell him where she had been. "I was in the library."

            "No you weren't" Harry said, catching her lie. "I checked there. You had me worried. Where were you?"

            "I was out." Hermione said, knowing this wouldn't pacify him.

            "Hermione, you can tell me. You don't have to lie to me." Harry said, walking towards her. "I was so scared that you were lying unconscious in a dark hallway or something. I was just about to go to Dumbledore."

            "Nonsense Harry. That's overkill." Hermione said, a little too airily. "And I really can't tell you where I was. So if you'd please go, I need to sleep."

            "Why can't you tell me?" Harry asked, eyes narrowed. "You used to tell me everything, why the sudden change? It's me, Harry, your best friend."

            "I don't need to tell you everything." Hermione said snappily. "There are some things that I should keep to myself."

            "But we were supposed to meet three hours ago! You broke a promise and I need to know why." Harry yelled.

            "No you don't!" Hermione yelled back. "Why should it be your business."

            "Because I'm your friend, that's why. When you're friends someone, you're allowed to tell them things!"

            "Well I'm not telling! And I hate you!"

            "I hate you!" Harry yelled, his face red.

            "Get out of here!" Hermione yelled, pointing at the door. "Don't you dare tell me what to do Harry Potter. Just because you save the world doesn't mean you're the boss."

            " Well you know what? We're over! I hate you. Goodbye!"

            "Goodbye!" Hermione yelled back as the door slammed. She ran upstairs and wrote something on a piece of parchment and gave it to her owl. The owl flew off to the Slytherin Tower. There were only five words on it.

            I've thought about it; yes.

**Thing ONe: You can shoot us now.**

**Thing TWo: We apologize for everything.**

**Thing ONe: We really do *shields self from rotten tomatoes and bullets***

**Thing TWo: Even though you might be a little brassed off at us, you can still review. We like reviews.**

**Thing ONe: And they won't stay apart for long. The breakup is all part of the mast plan**

**Thing TWo: As is Hermione's going out with Draco.**

Thing ONe and TWo: Now that you've read, you really should review and another chapter will be posted by Thing ONe and Thing TWo.


	6. Really Short Chapter, so sue us

            **A.N: Combined Author's Note here. This is a short chapter, because the next one is bound to be really long. We didn't want to pummel you with a huge new chapter, so this one (only 4 pages, very short for us) is a nice little preview of things to come and something that you will hopefully enjoy. Read, review, and we won't cut off your head!**

**Disclaimer: Baz owns Moulin Rouge! J.K. owns Harry Potter. Don't sue.**

**Thing TWo's Random Favorite Song of the Day: "Transylvanian Concubine" by Rasputina**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Harry fumed. He couldn't believe Hermione. Why wasn't she telling him? What was she hiding? Why didn't she trust him?

            He was so mad that he kicked the wall on the way back to Gryffindor Common Room. This didn't accomplish much, but it did make him feel a bit better.

            "Why does love make you do the things you don't want to?" He asked himself. He didn't hate Hermione, quite the opposite. The only reason he was so upset was because he loved her and was concerned.

            Despite all that Harry had been through, this was a totally new screwed up situation. Compared to what he was going through now, he'd rather fight Voldemort a few hundred times. Wandless. With his eyes closed.

            Kicking the wall again, he yelled without thinking, "Life should not be imitating art!"

            If only he really knew all the truth in that statement.

            After Hermione sent the owl, she collapsed onto her bed crying. She couldn't believe Harry. Further more, she couldn't believe herself. Not only would she have smoochie with-drawl (okay, so that wasn't the only reason she valued-had valued- their relationship, but it was a definite plus) but it looked like she and Harry would never be friends again. And if there was one thing in the world she hated, it was being angry with Harry. It was impossible to be angry with Harry, really. He was just too good and sweet.

            And now I've broken his heart, she thought as she sobbed. And it's all my fault, no one else's. Why couldn't I have just told him that I was at a top-secret meeting instead of being all huffy? Why did I yell? Why did I tell Draco I'd go out with him?

            She violently hit her pillow. "I!" she yelled each word after punching her bed "Hate! Life!" And with that, she fell backwards and onto her bed; face down, crying into the deflated pillow.

            As usual, there was good news and bad news in a situation such as this.

            The bad news was that there were classes the next day, which meant Harry and Hermione couldn't escape each other. They sat next to each other in every class, helped each other with homework, and were partners on a project. It was like God wanted them to be tortured.

            The good news was that they didn't have to help each other in their studies, really. And the class that they had to work on the project in wasn't until Wednesday. But sitting next to each other in class was unavoidable.

            Hermione walked slowly into the Great Hall for breakfast, having, for once in her life, spent over half an hour applying makeup so it would look like she had slept that night. Out of habit, she scanned the hall for Harry and then remembered they most likely wouldn't be speaking to each other.

            So instead of sitting in her normal place, she located Ginny and sat with her. Ginny normally was surrounded by a small group of friends, but today, the youngest Weasley was sitting alone reading a book while she ate a muffin.

            "Hi Ginny," Hermione said, sitting in the seat next to her. "Is it all right if I sit with you today?"

            "Sure." Ginny smiled, setting down her book. "If you don't mind my asking, why aren't you sitting with Ron and Harry?"

            Hermione quickly thought of some possible excuses, but decided to settle on the truth. Or at least, some of the truth. "Harry and I had a fight. It wasn't anything big, we just need some time to cool off."

            "I understand." Ginny said, truly not. Harry and Hermione hardly ever fought. "I'm sure things will smooth out."

            "Yeah," Hermione said, almost sadly. "Where are your friends?"

            "Oh, they're doing some extra credit work for Prof. Flitwick." Said Ginny, "and that's really not my thing. I'm trying to be an original Weasley." Seeing Hermione's expression, she elaborated. "Oh, I just want to different from all my brothers. I know neither Fred and George nor Ron would've done that, but I'm making better grades than them, and I'm not a prefect either. So that's new for our family."

            "It must be hard for you." Hermione said sympathetically. "Ron's said some of the same things to me too."

            "Yeah, when you're in a family that big, being an individual is key." Ginny said. "I love my family, but sometimes I wish I could separate myself from them. Oh well, why are we talking about this? We should be talking about fun things!"

            They chatted idily for the rest of breakfast until Hermione checked her watch. "Oh Goddess, I've got to get to class! I'll see you later!" she said, grabbing her books and heading towards Potions.

            Yes, as if her day couldn't get worse, her first class was Potions. Potions was still a merry Hell, but Snape wasn't as bad anymore. It was just the Slytherins that made everything bad. With this being their last year, both houses were at each other's necks to get the most points.

            The first person she saw was Harry. He was standing with Ron, talking about something. Ron waved to her, and she waved back. 'Remember,' she told herself 'you're not really mad at Harry. I mean, you are, but not the kind of mad that you were last night'.

            "Hi guys." She said quietly. Ron looked at her sympathetically, which meant Harry must've already told him something. "Did you guys do your homework?"

            "Yes." They both answered at once. Harry was avoiding eye contact.

            Ron was left in the middle, a situation that he had never been in before. It was usually Harry or Hermione in the middle, but never him. Now he knew how they felt. "Do we have rehearsal tonight?" He asked, a weak stab at making conversation.

            "No." Hermione said, looking anywhere but Harry. He was doing the same, only looking anywhere but Hermione.

            Ron was about ready to explode. The silence was killing him. "You did the Potions essay?" he asked. "It wasn't too bad, was it?"

            "I did it last night." Hermione said quietly.

            They stood in uncomfortable silence until Snape let them into the class. He looked tired. Hermione instantly felt sorry for the teacher she had despised for so many years. She knew that he was working almost all the time against the dark side now, and hardly had time to sleep much less teach.

            Snape gave them busy-work for the period while he drifted in and out of the classroom every now and then. Everyone knew where he was constantly going, to talk with Dumbledore about what was going on.

            The fear was there, in everyone. No one talked about it, but it was present. Sometimes, when it was dark out, and when they tried to sleep, there wasn't a student at Hogwarts who wasn't worried about what might happen soon. It was hanging in the air, so close, but invisible, something to be ignored until bed, when nightmares could feed.

            The rest of the day passed like Potions. Harry kept out of Hermione's way, and she kept out of his. It was better this way, really. It hurt-Oh God it hurt so bad- but they both thought that it would hurt more if they had to be together.

            They didn't do their homework together that night. Normally, Hermione would come over to the common room to do homework, but not tonight.

            The next day was more of the same. Sad, depressing, pick an adjective that describes sadness, that's what it was. Hermione skipped breakfast entirely, and instead stayed in the library until classes started.

            Harry was just as worse as she was. He wasn't really talking much, and if he did talk, it was to Ron. He knew something was missing. The Three Musketeers weren't together, and it was wrong.

            Hell, everyone could tell that there was trouble in paradise. Lauren was about to have an aneurysm when she saw them in class together, more to the point, not together.

            "The play's ruined." She sobbed to Dumbledore, "They're fighting, they bloody hate each other."

            Ron was about to go crazy with the strain of being stuck in the middle.

            Ginny was worried. Harry and Hermione fighting was like her parents fighting. Even though it would all turn out okay in the end, she was still scared that it wouldn't.

            And Hermione was on the verge of a nervous breakdown as she sat there, trying to do her homework. She couldn't concentrate on it, all she could think of was the horrible things she had said to Harry.

            A knock on the door jarred her out of her thoughts. "Oh good," she said to herself. "Maybe it will be some depressed fourth year who has more problems than me."

            She opened the door and saw Harry standing outside.

            "Forgive me?" he asked, gazing at Hermione with his green eyes.

            "No," Hermione said sadly. Harry's face fell. He shouldn't have taken Ron's advice. "Because you didn't do anything wrong." Hermione finished. "Oh Harry, this is all my fault!" Hermione started to cry, standing sadly in the doorframe.

            Harry's defense mechanism (more like defense for Hermione mechanism) went off, and he pulled her into his arms as she started to sob louder. He walked her into the room, closing the door by kicking it. "No Mione, it's my fault. I overreacted. Don't cry, really."

            "I'm sorry." She sobbed. "So sorry. So sorry."

            "Shh Mione, it's all right." Harry said, the two of them falling onto the couch. "I was pigheaded and stupid. You had every right to be mad at me."

            "No I didn't," Hermione cried. "You were worried about me, and, and that's good. It means you care. But I had to go and ruin it all." She wiped away her remaining tears. "And then I did something really horrible."

            "No you didn't." Harry said, smoothing back her hair. "You couldn't have done anything horrible. You're Hermione. Patron saint of all things Good."

            "No I'm not. I'm horrible. Oh Harry, will you ever be able to forgive me?" Hermione said, looking at Harry with large chocolate eyes. He nodded, wondering what on earth Hermione had done. "I told Draco I'd go out with him Christmas Eve."


	7. A flirtation, a ball, and what's up with...

            **Author's Notes**

**Thing ONe: Oh God. SIRIUS!!!! *sobs, holding onto her now deflated 'I LOVE PADFOOT' balloon* You messed everything up! The entire continuity!**

**Thing TWo: It's all right, really, I mean, he's only a fictional character, who's not real and probably would look really good shirtless-OH GOD, WHY'D HE DIE? *starts sobbing with Thing ONe* I mean, this is THE CHAPTER we put him in, the FIRST CHAPTER. And now he's GONE! FOREVER! DAMN YOU ROWLING! Damn you for messing up the flow of our story that was totally realistic until now! Anyway, this story is all pre-OotP. Nothing from that book will be seen in here.**

            Disclaimer: Give Back Yourself is recorded by the Gufs. Donna & Blitzen is by Badly Drawn Boy, as is the segment from the song Minor Incidents ( we guessed a bit on that second verse, couldn't find lyrics anywhere!). Hermione's lines "There's so much to work through" to "Can you just be kissing me now?" are from Tara's speech to Willow in Buffy the Vampire -WHY'D YOU KILL HIM NOW, ROWLING, WHY?!?!?!?!

            "Huh?" Harry said, trying his hardest not to believe that Hermione had said what he thought she had said.

            "I told Draco I'd go out with him on Christmas Eve." She repeated quietly. "Oh Harry, I was so mad when I said so, I didn't want to, I just wanted to get back at you."

            "I understand." Harry said. He didn't really. This was new territory for him. He was very unsure about what to say and what to do. It was obvious Hermione was sorry, but a small voice in the back of his head reminded him of how rude Hermione had been to him, so he proceeded with caution.

            "Did he say yes?"

            Hermione nodded, "And I can't break it off. If I do, then we won't get along, and the play will be ruined." She got up and started pacing around the room. "And all I want to do is get back together with you, but I know it's going to be hard. We never even really worked through our relationship before; it was just a lot of kissing. For all we know it may never have worked. There's so much to work through. Trust has to build again, on both sides, you have to learn if you're even the same people you were, if you can fit in each other's lives, it's a long and important process and can we just skip it? Can you just be kissing me now?"

            So Harry did just that.

            Rehearsals were after classes the next day. Lauren was on edge. "It's over." She said to herself. "It's all over. It's all bloody fu-" Then she saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron coming in, all laughing cheerily and looking like they were all friends. "It's not over!" she screamed in her head.

            Apparently she had screamed it out loud too, because everyone turned to look at her. "Director's thing, chant, mantra." She told them. "It's nothing." She got up and approached the Trio. "Guys, we're doing a few sound checks today. Harry, Hermione, I'm going to need you two to sing together when we test you're charms."

            "All right." They said together.

            Lauren was happy. Harry and Hermione weren't fighting. And all was right in the world.

            Everyone tested out their charms, a chanteon spell, which would project their voices all over the theater when they sang (for just speaking parts, everyone used a general sonorous charm). It worked perfectly, except for one problem: it had to specialized for everyone. So that meant anyone who was singing had to go up and get the spell fine-tuned before each dress rehearsal and performance. This was the first time that they had tried out the charm, and would be the only time until March when they started up on their last rehearsals.

            It took awhile. Prof. Flitwick had come to do it. He claimed that after a few castings, it wouldn't need to be perfected by him, but for the first few, he would be on hand to do them. That meant everyone had to go on and sing a few bars over and over until the perfect balance was found.

            Forty-five minutes later, they finally got to Harry and Hermione. They had to go separately first, and then together to do a special duet charm. 

            "All right guys, sing something together. Anything." Lauren told them.

            Hermione leaned over and whispered something in Harry's ear and he nodded. They cleared their throats and sang a few chords.

_Go on living_

_Always keep on living_

_Every time I'm dreaming_

_You give back yourself_

_Go on living_

_Always keep believing_

_In my thoughts and memories_

You give back yourself 

            "Perfect!" Flitwick squeaked. "That was easier than expected. All right, Monroe, you may continue with your rehearsal. May I stay so I can hear the acoustics?"

            "Of course!" Lauren said. "All right company, we're going to try to do the entire thing through today. If we have to much trouble with the dances, then we'll skip those, but I want to try to get as much of the play done as possible."

            So rehearsals started. They got through it in almost one piece, though they had to take a break in the middle so everyone could stop laughing after Justin had done a spectacular barrel roll down the stairs.

            "Rehearsal tomorrow!" Lauren called after them as they left. "Be here at 7:00 on the dot!" She took it on faith that everyone had heard what she had yelled and was just about to leave when a voice startled her.

            "Well, well, if it isn't the junior Auror herself."

            Lauren whipped around "Sirius!" she squealed.

            "Alive and kicking. How you doing Monroe?" He asked, coming over to hug her. "I came in the back way, heard the last few minutes. You've done a good job here."

            Lauren smiled broadly. "Thanks. I was going to owl you, but things have been so busy here that I couldn't. Does Harry know you're here?"

            "No," Sirius said, "I was thinking on dropping in on him later. Do you know if he's going to be in Hogsmeade tonight?"

            "I'm not sure." Lauren said, "Minerva has all the schedules for the trips."

            "Ah well, we can go anyway." Sirius told her. "We've got catching up to do."

            "All right." Lauren said, blushing slightly. Sirius had always had the affect on her. "Just let me clean up here. I only need to put up the sets." She took her wand and flicked it at the sets. They moved themselves out of the way and quietly into the wings. The curtain came down and the candles blew out, save for the few that were overhead. "All right, I'm ready to go."

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Three Broomsticks each with a large Butterbeer apiece.

            "Perfect end to the end of term. Well, almost end of term, still have one day." Ron said cheerfully. "Christmas is in just five days!"

            "I know." Hermione said, "Can you believe that we've only got four months left of rehearsal until the play?"

            "I can." Harry said. "Bet Lauren's counting down the days on a calendar. She's been doing a good job with us though. She's a good director."

            "Speak of the devil!" Ron said, pointing to the door. "Here she is. Hi Laur-" he stopped mid greeting. "Is that Sirius?"

            It was. Lauren was arm in arm with Harry's godfather and they were talking amicably. "Should we say hi?" Hermione asked quietly.

            "No, this should be fun to watch for a few minutes." Harry said. "I don't want to jump all over Sirius, he can't have been here long."

            They sat there for a few more minutes, watching Lauren and Sirius talk. Sirius said something and Lauren laughed gaily, the sound carrying across the room. After a few more minutes, Hermione quietly asked, "Are they…flirting?"

            "I think so," Ron said uncertainly, "Harry?"

            Harry's eyes were wide. "This is like a train wreck." He said in an unbelieving voice. "It's like when your mum was going wild over Gilderoy Lockhart."  
            Sirius and Lauren, totally unaware of the three teenagers staring at them, continued with their talking. Unbeknownst to them, they were flirting with each other. They weren't intentionally, mind you, it was this sort of natural reflex thing. They'd always done it in school, though they had never dated.

            "It's really good to see you again." Lauren said. "I'd really missed you."

            "I missed you too." Sirius replied. "I kept on reminding myself to owl you, but it always got way-sided by one thing or another."

            "I know exactly what you mean." Lauren told him. "You were number three on my things to do list, but now that you showed up, I can scratch it off."

            "Oh, and I heard something from Minerva that caught my interest." Sirius said. "She told me that the staff was betting on Harry's love life."

            "Well," Lauren said, not realizing that this would be a problem, "We are, but it's-"

            "I think that it's horrible, inconsiderate, disrespectful, rude, and are only teachers allowed to place bets?" Sirius finished, starting to laugh.

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione had slipped past their table by now. Once outside, Harry took a deep breath. "That was bracing."

            "It isn't that bad, Harry." Hermione assured him. "Don't you want Sirius to be happy?"

            "Yes, but why does he need to do it with our teacher?" Harry asked. He looked close to a meltdown. Hermione was worried. Harry had a tendency to do this when under a lot of stress; turn little things into very big deals. "I mean, it's just…"

            "Calm down." Ron said. "Besides, you can talk to Sirius about it later, he's bound to come visit you."

            But Sirius did not come visit Harry, which made Harry more freaked out than he already was. And when Lauren was not in class the next day, he went almost insane.

            "It's all right Harry." Hermione told him. "Lauren asked me to sub for her. Fleur is working on dance preparations. She's just going to talk with the owners of the theatre."

            Harry wasn't convinced, but let Hermione teach without interruption. Not that you could really call it teaching. She was just checking to be sure that everyone was doing the bookwork and answering any questions that they had (Hermione had done the work the week before in some spare time she had during class). Class was halfway through when there was a knock on the door. Hermione went to answer it, and found Fleur standing there, holding and armload of papers.

            "Salut, Hermione!" Fleur said. "I just stopped by to see how the class was doing."

            "Oh fine." Hermione said. "No interruptions. Not like I'm actually teaching them anything."

            "I really wish I could've taken over the class, but I have dance preparations, and some papers to grade from a month ago!" Fleur said. "Lauren's been so stressed with the play, I think it was good of her to take a day off, go see an old friend."

            "Friend?" Hermione asked.  "I thought she was seeing the owners of the theatre."

            Fleur's brain froze. Lauren had confided in her that she was seeing Sirius. Lauren didn't want Fleur telling that to anyone because, well, think of this school's rumor mill for a second. "Of course." Fleur said quickly. "She knows one of the owners from her school days. They were going to get lunch afterwards."

            Hermione knew Fleur was lying, but decided not to pursue it. "How's the dance stuff going?"

            "Oh, tres bien, mais c'est barbant." Fleur told her, slipping into French as she always did when she was nervous. "You know, it's all going very well, but how many times do I have to double check the lists to make sure their right? Ah well, I should get back on it. A tout l'heure."

            Finally, it was Christmas. Some people had gone home for Christmas, but, with the prospect of the ball, most stayed at Hogwarts. All of the boys in Ron and Harry's dorm were going home for Christmas. Lavender was upset about this, and ended up shouting at Seamus in the dorm as he was packing. Seamus had done the smart thing and ignored her, which only infuriated Lavender more.

            The 24th was spent doing the homework that had piled up, and one final rehearsal that ended up being more of a Christmas party than anything else. It's hard to act a scene when the person you're having a dialogue with is eating chips during their lines. Lauren let them wander the village for a while afterwards, making them all promise to be in by nine o'clock.

            "Where should we go, then?" Harry asked.

            "Why don't we go see Fred and George?" Ron asked. "It's been awhile."

            Fred and George had a joke shop in Hogsmeade. They had found a nice, old house to work and sell in, but they weren't sure they'd be able to at first. After many meetings with the head of Zonko's Joke Shop, in which Fred and George promised not to sell any of the things that Zonko's did, they were allowed to set up shop. And they'd been doing quite a booming business, too, as was evident when they walked in that night. The small shop was crowded, mostly with people from the play, and a few embarrassed looking adults. Fred was ringing up purchases, looking tired.

            Ron got in the back of the line and yelled "Hey, can we get some service here?"

            Fred looked up, seriously annoyed at first until he saw whom it was. "Oh shut up," he yelled back "Ickle Ronnikens." 

            George heard the yelling and came up to the trio. "Happy Christmas." He greeted, giving Hermione a quick hug. "How's that play going? You realize all the Weasley's are going to be there, and we expect a spectacle."

            "I'm sure you'll get one." Harry assured him. "Sorry we haven't been by in a while. It's been busy."

            "How can you be busy, it's your last year?" George asked incredulously. "And Dumbledore cancelled all Quidditch, since the field's getting revamped. There's hardly any homework, except the occasional essay. What are you guys doing?"

            "Well, for one, we've got rehearsals all the time." Hermione said. "And also, we're taking the N.E.W.T's. That adds a bit of extra studying."

            "And we're actually finishing out the year." Harry added. 

            "Valid points." George said. "Hey, we're closing up soon, do you want to see what we've been working on? I won't test anything on you!" He added in response to the expressions on their faces.

            Thirty minutes later, after being shown Fred and George's new inventions (including candy that could change your style of hair after eating it) they headed out and back up to the castle.

            "There hasn't been any snow yet this year." Hermione mused. "Normally we get a dusting by now."

            "Not that we've had a lack of cold weather, though." Ron said. They were all covered in thick cloaks, scarves, hats, and earmuffs. "Still, Christmas tomorrow. I'm expecting gifts."

            "Ron…" Hermione said, "Christmas means more than that you know." She caught the looks on Harry and Ron's faces. "All right, so I really don't care about the religious aspects of it either. But you could at least pretend. Anyway, do either of you have dates for the ball?"

            "No," Harry said. He and Hermione had not talked about it before, and she was obviously going with Malfoy now. "Do you Ron?"

            "No." Ron replied. "I haven't really thought about it. They won't kill us if we come alone, will they?" He asked uncertainly.

            "I doubt it." Hermione answered. She'd told Ron about going to the dance with Malfoy the day before, and he'd taken it surprisingly well. True, she'd heard some mild cussing and a fist hitting a wall afterwards, but he was refraining from open hostility.

            They'd reached Head Girl rooms sooner than they'd thought. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow morning." Hermione told them. "Happy Christmas."

            "Happy Christmas" they echoed.

            Harry woke on Christmas Day to long rays of sunlight in his face and Hermione sitting on his bed, talking with Ron.

            "Took you a while to get up." Ron said. "We've been holding off on opening up presents because of you."

            Hermione smiled apologetically at him. "Well, he's up now, so we can open them. How should we do this?"

            An order was decided, in which they would go in a circle and open one present at a time. Sadly, this took them about five minutes to decide. 

            There were sweaters for each of them from Mrs. Weasley. Hermione had gotten Ron a book on magical creatures. Ron didn't like it at first, but once he looked inside it, he was hooked.

            "Wow, Hermione!" He said, awed. "This is amazing." It was. The book's pictures were like that in a pop-up book; next to the description of the animal, a picture of it sort of hopped off the page and flew, walked, or hopped around in mid air. 

            "Thanks Mione." Harry said, opening his gift. It was also a book, on Auror training and history (All of the Auror-in-training candidates had been given one; Hermione asked for an extra one from Lauren)

            Ron had gotten Hermione two bottles of her favorite perfume, White Gardenia. Hermione immediately sprayed on a liberal amount, filling the room with the sweet scent.

            On his seventeenth birthday, Harry had been sent a large box from Gringotts, containing things his parents had put in their safe. It was mostly photos and papers, but he'd found a necklace that had belonged to his mother, and decided to give it to Hermione for Christmas. 

            "Wow, Harry." Hermione whispered, looking at the small diamond star with a gold heart in the middle on a silver chain. "This is beautiful." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "It's wonderful. Thank you."

            "How come I didn't get a kiss?" Ron asked grumpily. 

            "Oh, all right," Hermione giggled. She went over and gave Ron a huge, sloppy kiss on the lips. "That better?"

            "Much." Ron said, and fell over in a dead faint.

            By seven o'clock, everyone had gravitated downstairs for the dance. Hermione was standing with Ron and Harry. "I got a note from Draco telling me to meet him after we dance a bit at the entrance hall at around nine. And he's allowing me to dance with you two."

            "What a prince." Ron said curtly. "I'm getting bad feelings about this thing." He whispered to Harry.

            "So am I." Harry whispered back. "I may keep watch on them, just in case. Not that Draco's really a bad guy anymore, but still, just because he's not a Death Eater doesn't mean-"

            "He's not something else." Ron finished, "I know."

            The doors opened, and everyone paraded into the Great Hall, which was set up much the way it had been when they had the Yule Ball three years before. A singer was standing up on the stage, setting up an old-looking microphone (you know, the big circular ones from the '20's).

            "Is this thing working?" She asked. There was a pang of loud feedback that made everyone cringe. "Apparently so. Hi everyone, I'm Amelie Morlant,"

            "Ooh." Harry heard Lavender say. "I've heard of her, she's supposed to be really good. I wonder how Dumbledore got her to sing here?"

            "This is your Winter Ball, and it starts…now!" She launched into a song that Harry didn't recognize as everyone around him started to dance.

            "Let's grab a table!" Hermione said, pulling Harry to one of the many small tables in the corner, with Ron following closely behind.

            "Shouldn't you be with your date?" Ron asked, though he didn't look at all upset that Hermione wasn't dashing off to fall into Malfoy's waiting arms.

            "I suppose I should find him…" Hermione said, making little effort to search the crowd. 

            "Why are you doing this again?" Harry asked, already knowing, but needing to hear the explanation again. The more often she told him, the better he felt about the situation. Not that he felt wonderful, but he at least knew that Hermione wasn't planning on leaving him for Malfoy.

            "I'm only going with him because if I said 'no', then he would get upset, we wouldn't be able to work together, the whole group dynamic would be off and we'd be this huge crater hurtling towards earth…" Hermione stopped seeing Harry and Ron's looks. "And afterwards I'll just politely tell him that we don't work out. I'm hoping he'll break it off with me though, because I'm planning on being as boring as toast throughout the entire thing."

            "Good plan." Harry said. "Do you want to dance with me before your knight in platinum blond armor comes?"

            "All right." Hermione said, taking Harry's hand out onto the dance floor. The song that was playing wasn't one that you could really dance to, it was a faster one.

            "We should learn how to swing dance." Hermione said absentmindedly, "We should take it next year, when we're in London together." Long (okay, about two months) before they had gotten together, Harry and Hermione had already started to make arrangements to live together in London, since they both knew that they would be working around there. Now, the living conditions seemed more convenient, since they had planned to reveal to the world that they were together by then.

            "Swing dance?" Harry asked.

            "Oh, just thinking." Hermione said, "the music made me think of it, and my mind wandered, one thing lead to another, and voila, swing dance."

            "Hello you two." A voice from behind said.

            "Hello Sirius." Harry and Hermione chorused. "Hi Lauren." Harry's godfather and their director were dancing together, and had sashayed over to where they were.

            "Having a nice time?" Sirius asked. "Sorry I didn't come by sooner, I got waylaid."

            "I can imagine." Harry said. He was no longer overreacting to the fact that his godfather could have a social life. In fact, Harry felt almost good about it, because he was now not the only person with a secret relationship.

            "Nice necklace Hermione." Lauren said, looking at the one that Harry had given her. Lauren knew where that was from, almost. It was itching in her head. 'I've seen that before' she thought. 'Just where?'

            "Thanks," Hermione smiled. "Harry gave it to me."

            Sirius looked at Lauren strangely. "Well, we best be off, I need to talk with Dumbledore about some things. We'll see you later."

            "See you." Harry said, and then he turned back to look at Hermione "Do you promise not to have fun tonight?" He asked anxiously. "Cause, if you left me for Malfoy, I'm not sure I could take it. I'd go and join Voldemort."

            "I promise to be bored and count the hours until my return," Hermione said dramatically.

            "Better start with the counting, here comes your dream lover." Harry told her, looking above her head.

            "May I cut in?" Draco asked, already pushing Harry aside.

            "Of course." Harry said through gritted teeth. "Bye Mione."

            "Bye," Hermione said despondently.

            Harry went back over to sit with Ron. "She's off to the ball." He said.

            "Oh fun." Ron said darkly. "I really hate him. Not just really, but really, really hate him. And it's not because he was evil, just because he's a bastard."

            "Cheers." Harry said, tipping his glass to Ron.

            "Well, even with the downfall of my father, the Malfoy family is still prosperous." Draco droned on for what felt like to Hermione five hours. All he talked about was himself. "And women are naturally drawn to me, it's a power I have, I suppose."

            "Draco." Hermione interjected. "I hate to interrupt, but I just remembered, I need to go ask Ron something. I just totally blanked out about…" Think of an excuse quick! "When his brother Charlie's wedding is and if I don't ask him now, it'll bug me all night. See you at nine!" Without waiting to hear if Draco was going to let her go or not, she walked swiftly off over to the table where Ron and Harry were sitting.

            "You escaped, then?" Ron asked.

            "Just for the next hour." Hermione said sadly. "What've I missed?"

            Harry and Ron looked at each other. "Nothing." Harry said. "We've been trying to guess if Lauren and Sirius are a couple or not, but that's really about it."

            "Better than what I had to go through." Hermione said darkly. "I listened to Draco talk about how great he was for an entire hour."

            "Well, how about listening to me talk about myself." Ron offered, flashing a charming smile at Hermione. "Wanna dance with a stud like me?"

            "Of course." Hermione said. She smiled at Harry and whispered 'later'. 

            Sirius and Lauren had taken a break from talking to the other teachers and went out into the hall for a second. "I need to tell you something," Sirius whispered.

            When they were out in the hall, Lauren turned to him and said "I think I know what this is about. The necklace Harry gave Hermione is the one-"       

            "James gave to Lily, a year before they were engaged." Sirius finished. "I know." He sat down next to Lauren on one of the steps. "If Hermione only had red hair and they were at each other's throats, I'd have sworn I saw Lily and James dancing."

            "That's what I go through everyday." Lauren said sadly. "And Hermione will have red hair, come April. She's having it dyed for the part. I don't know how I'm going to be able to stand it then; watching them pretend to be in love, knowing none of it's real. That's one of the reasons I've been trying to get them together; to see some of Lily and James in them. And I was bored during auditions."

            "I'll talk to Harry." Sirius assured her. "I've been meaning to, anyway. I'm not sure if he knew the history behind that necklace, and it's a story I've been thinking about a lot lately."

            "Thank you." Lauren said. "I used to be such a great match-maker, you know? And here I am, with an entire cast of characters helping me and I can't get those two together. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."

            Sirius bowed. "I'll be off doing that, then. I'll see you soon."

            Harry was left alone at the table, feeling a mixture of good and sad. He was glad that Hermione didn't have any plans to elope with Malfoy, but right now, he wished that he could just forget their bet, forget the danger, and admit to everyone that Hermione was his girlfriend. 

            But he couldn't. He'd recently had a talk with Dumbledore, who informed him that the closer someone was to Harry, the more danger they were in. From what he said, Harry realized that if it was known fact that Hermione was more than his best friend, the Death Eaters would be lining up to kidnap her. Harry loved Hermione, he would die for her, if it came to that. This wasn't something he'd only felt for since they'd started dating, it was something he'd known since his third year. When Hermione had fainted next to him when the Dementors were praying down, he knew he'd do anything just so they could get out safely, because if Hermione was safe, everything would be right in the world.

            Looking back on that feeling (and the other times he'd felt that), Harry realized it was probably some extension of his romantic love for Hermione that he hadn't noticed yet. And if giving up doing things like dancing with her and kissing her in public kept her safe (at least until he fought Voldemort, which would inevitably be at the end of the year), then Harry was willing to do it.

            He still wished he could tell somebody besides Justin.

            As if on cue, Sirius sat down next to him. "Hey Harry. How's everything going?"

            Of course! He could tell Sirius. Why hadn't he thought of it before? "Okay." Harry answered. "Actually, there's something I need to tell you."

            "There's something I need to tell you too." Sirius said. "But you can go first."

            "Thanks." Harry said. It's now or never Potter, just say it. "I've been secretly dating Hermione." He said quickly and quietly.

            Sirius blinked and then stared at Harry. "I wasn't expecting that." He muttered. "All right, that's…news." 

            "I have a good reason for not letting anyone else know." Harry said quickly.

            "I can understand." Sirius assured him. "Voldemort, right?" Harry nodded. "When did it happen? How long has this been going on? Does Ron know?"

            "After rehearsal. About two and a half months ago. No, but Justin Finch-Fletchley knows, he caught us kissing." Harry answered. "And the only reason I'm telling you is because I know you won't go and blab it to everyone in the school. You won't, will you?"

            "Of course not." Sirius said. As soon as he said it, he knew he wouldn't tell anyone. Not Lauren, not Dumbledore, and most definitely not the Associated Press. 

            "There's something else though." Harry added. "We got into a fight and broke up for two days. During those two days, Hermione took up Draco Malfoy's earlier offer to go out with him tonight." Sirius winced. "I know. Well, she's still going, just because she doesn't want to make him mad and mess up the play. She swears she won't have fun, but I still can't help but be worried."

            "Well, one can't say you don't have an interesting relationship." Sirius said. "And about that thing I needed to tell you, it has to do with your news. Do you know anything about the necklace that you gave Hermione?"

            "It belonged to my mum." Harry said. "It was in that huge stack of stuff they gave me this summer."

            "Your dad gave your mum that necklace for her eighteenth birthday." Sirius told him. "It's actually a funny story, really."

            "What happened?" Harry asked suspiciously.

            "Well, your dad had dragged me into London to order it from this really nice jewelry shop." Sirius said. "He found a pretty heart shaped necklace and decided to get that. Well, then he dragged me and Moony back out there to pick it up. I still have no idea why. Well, I do, he was so happy about dating your mum and I think he wanted to prove to us skeptics that they were happy together and would stay together. Remus and I were never to sure that it would last, they were always about to kill each other, and that's when they were together. You should've seen what it was like when they hated each other.

            "Anyway, when we got there, James opened up the box with the necklace and it was the wrong one. It was a diamond star instead. The guy at the counter kept on telling him that this was what he had asked for and that they didn't even make the golden heart thing anymore. So your dad was upset, and tried to use magic to change the necklace instead. Didn't work. First it got bigger, then it disappeared, then he got it back, then it turned to all silver, until finally he got it to be a heart. But it wasn't exactly what he wanted."

            "So that's why there's the golden heart in the center." Harry said. "I thought it was weird design."

            "Lily ended up loving it anyway, so I suppose it doesn't matter, but that was so funny to watch him try to enchant a necklace." Sirius laughed. "We went crazy and made fun of him for it for about the next three years."

            "Hey Sirius. Sorry I didn't come over sooner, got waylaid by Lavender." Ron said, sitting between them. "Hermione's off on her lovely adventure with Malfoy."

            "She is?" Harry asked, checking the clock. It was 9:00. "Oh great."

            "I know the feeling." Ron said. "He looked like he was going to repossess her when he came up to her. He really gives me the wiggins. Do you think one of us should follow her?"

            Harry looked at Sirius. "No, Hermione can easily take care of herself." Harry said.

            "I agree with Harry." Sirius said. "She's been through enough battle training she could probably take on anything."

            But one thing Hermione could not take on was full-on boredom. When she and Draco went outside and towards the lake, she was praying that she could make a quick run for it. 'Make sure everyone gets along in the play my arse' she thought 'What had I been thinking?'

            Draco led her over to a tree by the lake. He kept looking over his shoulder, which made Hermione nervous. "Where are we going."

            "Just over to the lake." Draco said, distracted.

            "Why don't we go back inside. It's really cold out, and there doesn't seem to be anyone else out here." Hermione said nervously.

            "That's the point."

            Now Hermione was really freaked out. "Draco, let's go back inside."

            "No."

            "Yes, let's go back in now!" Hermione said forcefully. She made to go back in, but Draco grabbed her wrist.

            "You're really important to Harry, aren't you?" He asked in a low voice, holding her back. "If something were to happen to you, say a kidnapping, he'd come to where we took you, wouldn't he?"

            "Let me go!" Hermione yelled.

            "He'd try and rescue you, wouldn't he?" Draco asked again. "That's what he does best. That's why he's Harry Potter."

            Hermione struggled to get at her wand, but since Draco had both of her wrists held back, she was having a lot of trouble.

            "If we left a ransom note that maybe had a splash of your blood on it, he'd do whatever it said, right?" Draco asked in a sinister voice.

            Everything that Hermione had been warned about, all the danger of being best friends with The Harry Potter, were coming true. Everything that she worried about late at night was happening to her. A voice in her head couldn't help yelling 'No! This is all wrong! This is supposed to happen to Ron! Not me!'

            Hermione tried to get away, but Draco just held onto her tighter. She opened her mouth to scream-a long shot, but it was worth trying- but he put his hand over her mouth and whispered "Do that and I'll just kill you now. And it'll hurt a lot more than what'll happen if you cooperate."

            Hermione tried in vain to get her wand, but it was no use. She was going to die. She refused to believe they wouldn't just kill her and bring her body along. She felt a tear escape from her cheek as Draco started to drag her away. Hermione tried fighting once more, but it wouldn't work. He started to tell her how she'd die. Knives, fire, rape, torture, and then death. "Oh God." She said quietly. This wasn't the way she was supposed to go.

            Just as Draco was about to carry her off to…somewhere, she felt him spasm slightly. "Hermione." He said. She noticed that his voice had seemed to change some, but was more distracted by what he said next. "Run. I can't fight it for long. Run!"

            Hermione didn't need to be told twice. Not even thinking about what had happened, she ran as fast as she could. She heard an aggravated yell behind her. Draco was running after her. She grabbed her wand and stunned him. She saw him fall to the ground with a thud. She kept on running. That was all that mattered.

            "I think we should check on her." Harry said suddenly.

            "Huh?" Ron asked, looking up from the brownie he was eating. "I thought you said that she would be okay?"

            "I did," Harry said, "But I've got this bad feeling. Humor me." Ron nodded and followed Harry out of the crowd of dancers and to the hall.

            Hermione ran up the hill to the castle and swung open the doors. She didn't know where she was going, but as she ran, she slammed into something.

            "Hermione!" She heard two voices say. She'd ran into Harry.

            "Oh, Harry," she said, falling into him, crying. "He tried to kidnap me, for Voldemort, he said that they were going to-" She shuddered violently and stopped talking, just cried into Harry.

            "I'll get Dumbledore." Ron said, running back into the Great Hall.

            Harry stood there with Hermione as she cried, smoothing back her hair and saying the only comforting words he could think of. "I love you, don't worry, it's all right, I love you."

            He looked up only when he heard footsteps from his right. Dumbledore, Lauren, Sirius, and Ron had all come back out. "To my office." Dumbledore said, leading the way. Harry and Ron both had their arms tightly around Hermione, which, though it mad walking harder, made them all feel a bit better.

            "Where's Malfoy?" Lauren asked Hermione gently.

            "I stunned him, he's outside somewhere." Hermione said, still visibly shaken, although she had managed to stop crying.

            "I'll go find him." Sirius said.

            Dumbledore summoned a squishy comfy chair for her to sit in while Harry and Ron stood on either side of the chair. "Hermione, what happened?" Dumbledore asked in a gentle way.

            Hermione took a deep breath. She remembered what Harry had said, about telling it sooner was better than keeping it in until later. "Draco took me outside. I said that I wanted to go back in, but he said no. He kept on asking what Harry would do if I was kidnapped. Would he come find me? Would he rescue me? He kept on asking this over and over. He said they'd leave a note about where to find me with my blood on it. When I tried to yell for help, he told me to be quiet or I'd die now." Hermione took another deep breath, not breaking eye contact with Dumbledore. "He started to drag me away and talked about how I was going to die in excruciating detail. He has a really good imagination, unfortunately. He kept on saying this, and then all of a sudden, he told me to run, so I did, and I made sure to stun him in the process."

            "Good girl." Ron said quietly.

            "It sounds like he's working for Voldemort again." Lauren said. "But Albus, I thought we had checked him out to make sure he was safe? How could this slip through?"

            "I supposed we should ask him." Sirius said, coming in with Malfoy's floating body behind him. Sirius let him drop unceremoniously to the floor. Sirius revived him and helped him up. "Get up, into that chair. Now."

            Malfoy plopped into another chair that was in front of Dumbledore's desk. "I'm not saying anything, if that's what you want. She was going to get what she deserved."

            Both Harry and Ron moved forward threateningly, but Dumbledore stopped them with a look. "Some Vertisarum, I think." Dumbledore took some out of a drawer and handed it to Sirius, who in turn force-fed it to Malfoy.

            "Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked.

            "Yes." Draco said in a flat monotone

            "What is your name?"

            "Draco Leviticus Borgia Malfoy" Ron smirked.

            "Have you been in league with the Dark Lord?"

            "Yes."

            "Under your own free will?"

            "No."

            "Have you been under the Imperious Curse?"

            "Yes, but I have been able to fight it off at times."

            'Well, that explains that,' Hermione thought, thinking of his earlier mood change.

            "Why were you put under the curse?"

            "I was forced to have it put on me last summer. I was ordered to try to get closer to Harry Potter and his friends. When I saw that there was a play and that the others were auditioning for it, I too went to audition, under orders. Later in the year, the Dark Lord formed a plan. I was to ask Hermione out and then kidnap her. That would lead Harry to Voldemort, where he would find her dead body and the Dark Lord waiting for him. Could you please tell Hermione that I didn't want to do it, I tried my hardest to fight it off, but that I wasn't strong enough. Please tell her that I hope she forgives me."

            Harry looked down at Hermione, but her eyes were clamped shut.

            Dumbledore noticed this too. "I think that is all that I will need you three for. Hermione I will talk to you tomorrow. You may leave." The trio left, followed closely by Lauren.

            "I think one of you should stay with her tonight." She said quietly.

            "I will." Harry offered. Lauren smiled warmly at him, and went back in to Dumbledore's office.

            Ron turned to Hermione. He pulled her into a gentle hug and murmured, "I love you Hermione. It'll get better. Don't worry." He squeezed Harry's shoulder as he passed and muttered, "Take care of her" as he left.

            Harry helped get her up to her room and into her bed. She didn't say anything, just laid there looking out her window. Harry laid down next to her. "Please say something, do something, or move. You're scaring me." When she still didn't do anything, he put his face close to hers and started singing softly in her ear, "There's nothing I could say to try to make you feel okay. And nothing you could do to stop me feeling the way I do. And if the chance should happen that I never see you again, just remember that I'll always love you."

            He felt Hermione wrap her arms around his waist and start to cry softly, but he kept on singing. "I'd be a better person on the other side I'm sure. You'd find a way to help yourself, and find a little more. To shrug of minor incidents that make us both feel proud, I just wish I could be there to see you through."

            Back in the Great Hall, the dance was finishing up.

            "I have one more song to play for you tonight." Ms. Morlant said. "And here it goes. Merry Christmas. Huh."

_Pay for the light  
But you may still slide  
Baby it's not your sleigh ride  
But this year is ours_

            Everyone danced slowly back in the Hall, totally unaware of what was going on. As new loves were formed and old ones were broken, they all danced to the song, full of hope, something none of them had seen in a while.

  
_Maybe tomorrow  
We're gonna see  
Things we'd never believe  
I'll make you want me you'll see_

"Is every dance this eventful?" Sirius joked as he walked with Lauren up to her room.

            "No." Lauren said, "And you shouldn't say that, this is serious, Sirius!"

            "Sorry." He said sheepishly. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

            "I hope so." Lauren said.

  
_The initial warning is free  
But only two reindeer  
Oh what a sight as they take their first flight  
Oh darling it's all in time_

            And then, as they leaned forward, as all the other students were dancing and involved in themselves, as all their combined history rushed together in that one moment, they kissed and the world shook, though they were too busy to notice.

  
_And I will, I will, I will...  
I will.....wait their return  
Or make to the sky  
Oh what a sight beautiful  
And I will_

            Harry sat on the edge of Hermione's bed as she cried herself to sleep, the moonlight hitting both of them, as outside, it began to snow.

  
_I will, I will, I will...  
I will sleep tonight  
I will sleep tonight_

**A.N: That was our longest chapter yet. 15 pages. And we typed up about seven of them today.**

**            Also, if you would like to be on a mailing list informing you when new chapters are out, please leave your e-mail address in your review (if you already get e-mails from us, no need to put your name down)**

**            Now that you've read, you really should review and another chapter will be written by Thing ONe and TWo. **


	8. Thanks, that was fun

For the first year anniversary of the posting of "The School Is Alive With the Sound of Magic", we would like to thank all of the people who have reviewed in the last 365 days. 

And they are:

**Heh, Raven-Of-A-Took, roary14** (we are honored to be on your favorites list), **Michelle Palmer** (Yes! We now have proof that we aren't the only ones that say 'this be good'), **Bianca** (thank you for all of your constant reviews!), **Dori Allister** (HTML is eeeeevil), **Gryffindorgurl987, ShadowPassinThrough** (cool penname), **talentedwithapen** (we're glad you think that everyone is in character)**, LilyKitsune, Sinful Wishes, Lizzie Diagon, Taryn and Jordan** (we're glad we made you laugh), **Asphodele** (Don't hit! We promise to be good)**, X lil*hopeless*dreamer X, Lupin's Niece AJ, Nina21 **(we write as fast as our little fingers can type), **Hollywoodgurl** (thanks for the compliments!)**, moremoremore…etc** (Wow! You're enthusiastic!)**, LilyFlower** (*swoons and faints in pure ecstasy* thanks for the review!)**, the-girl-named-kittie, A Bit of Old Parchment** (don't worry yourself, we hardly know where the plot is going either)**, A-rose-for-Padfoot, LilyFlower2 **(we're _this_ good? Thanks! God bless Lori)**, Satine** (kill Hermione? We're appalled that you even thought of that. No, we have something different planned for opening night)**, elijah'sbaby1981** (huh?)**, gog, Hpfan4ever** (Thanks for no rotten tomatoes!)**, THing A and THing B, Moonbeam8** (no worries dear, they are quite obviously back together now, and we're so glad that you enjoyed the story enough to hunt it down over here. And yes, he does like Ginny)**, HURRY UP, Meggie **(we actually took it from the Ewan McGregor movie named 'Brassed Off'. Glad to see there's another Buffy fan though)**, hi, Avey **(Thank you for such long reviews, we look forward to getting them!)**, Rose Marie future Mrs. Alan Rickman, angry, Emma Riddle **(you printed it out to show to all your friends? Really? Wow. Thing TWo remembers doing that with Tropical Fishy's 'Flower and the Stag' We're glad to see that you're carrying on the tradition and think us worthy)**, Spiderqueen052** (hi)**, Angel351, fairy-lights 1, Daughter of Black, Laura a.ka. Rose **(we're working on it)**, Kat Davi, Idea **('Roxanne' will show up all in due time)**, o Hell o Kitty o, HE, OMG, For Pete's Sake, **and **Elizabeth Swann/Turner**

Thank you for your reviews and your kind words. If not for you, this story would never have gotten off the ground.

And to Emily and Meagan, thank you for your support and your constant bugging. We couldn't do it without you.

Look for a new chapter soon. There should only be two chapters and an epilogue left, so this story is coming to a close.

Thanks for all of your support and inspiration,

            Thing ONe and Thing TWo, Thing ONe and Thing TWo Productions.

grr argh…


	9. You can't handle the truth!

**A.N.**

**Thing ONe: Thank you for the lovely response on our last chapter.**

**Thing TWo: We worked very hard on it and are so very glad that you enjoyed it. **

**Thing ONe: Just for some clarification, Lauren and Sirius did do the Mattress Mambo the night of the dance.**

**Thing TWo: And yes, there will be consequences. Well, amusing ones at least. **

**Thing ONe: This chapter was our longest yet, beating the last chapter by 2 pages. **

**Thing TWo: Sixteen pages of nothing but our crazy writings.**

**Thing ONe: Warning, this is the second to last chapter. The play will be the last chapter, and then an epilogue, and then the series shall be over!**

**Thing TWo: So please enjoy this chapter! And please review!**

**Disclaimer: "Love means never having to say you're sorry" is from the movie 'A Love Story'. Dopiest line ever committed in cinema, people, but really, really sappily good. We'd like to apologize to Joss Whedon for accidentally moving Harry and Hermione's relationship into the season 3 Buffy/Angel zone. The line "We're afraid that we might lose you young," is from Lori Summers' _Hero With a Thousand Faces_. Go read it. Various _Moulin Rouge!_ songs belong to Baz Luhrman **

**Thing ONe's CD of the Week: John Mayer, _Any Give Thursday_, since this is what we were listening to while writing 50% of this up and were too lazy to change it out. And when we did get around to changing it….**

**Thing TWo's CD of the Week: Coldplay, _Rush of Blood to the Head_. Damn you Gwyneth Paltrow! DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

            "Well, given this school's rumor mill, and the fact that this was a very serious, private matter, I'm sure you all know about what happened last night." Lauren told the cast. She had called an emergency cast meeting. It was Boxing Day, and most students were back in their Common Rooms, sleeping or doing homework, but not these teens. They were seated in a circle, listening intently to Lauren.

            They had heard about it. It was already noon the next day--who hadn't? Word had spread quickly through out the school. Some were panicked, a death eater, in Hogwarts. Others dismissed it as nothing to worry about. Either way, the news was that Draco Malfoy had tried to kidnap Hermione Granger, and for once, no one was trying to stuff it full with other rumors.

            "Draco is currently in Ministry custody, though from what he told us last night under the influence of a truth serum, I have a feeling he will not be detained in London long. In fact, he will probably become another important ally. However, he still could be potentially dangerous, which makes me now wish that we had understudies. Hermione is talking to Dumbledore now, and she should be back to rehearsals tomorrow. Any questions?"

            "Where's Harry?" Lavender asked.

            "With Hermione." Lauren answered. "He stayed with her last night." Everyone in on the pool exchanged knowing glances. "He'll also be back tomorrow, no worries. And speaking of worries, does anyone have anything they want to voice? Anything that you're worried about?"

            All of the students shifted uncomfortably. "Just wondering when the Death Eaters are going to kill us all. Oh, and that Potions test I have to take next week" Sally-Anne said cynically.

            "Yeah, nobody tells the students anything." Ginny said, obviously peeved. "I have to rely on third hand information from Ron, which he gets from Harry, who gets it from Dumbledore. I know Dumbledore's trying to tells us, but he really isn't it. He may think he's trying to keep us from worrying, but it just gets us even more anxious."

            There was a chorus of 'Yeah' and 'What's happening' and 'Why don't we know?' and 'Why don't you tell us anything?'

            "I know, I know." Lauren said. "I should tell you, I'm the Auror on vacation here, but Dumbledore has asked me not to. I know, I know," she said, as everyone started to yell at her some more. "I don't think his policies are the best either, but think about it from the point of view of someone else's mum and dad. They might not want their children to be told about what's going on, even if your parents are okay with it. If Dumbledore did tell everyone about what's happening, he'd be swamped with complaints, and not just from parents; the Ministry, Fudge, the press. It'd be a horrible nightmare."

            "But isn't there some way?" Justin asked.

            "I'll talk with Dumbledore, but I doubt there's anything we could do without getting anyone mad." Lauren said. "I know it's horrible for you, but you have to admit, we've been keeping you posted about attacks, and if there was any real threat to the school, we'd tell you and evacuate you immediately."

            There were groans of 'All right' and 'Okay', from everyone. They're smart kids, Lauren thought, they understand what's going on, and that they can't change the world. But they're still just kids, and they have to complain.

            "You're free to go." She told them. They didn't move. "Go! Scoot! Shoo! I have no time for you anymore!" She yelled. They got the point and laughed, all of them a bit more assured and a bit happier.

~~~~~~~

            Harry had never before stayed awake all night, but there's a first time for everything.

            All night and all morning he had stayed with Hermione, not daring to go to sleep in case she needed him. Every time he felt himself drifting off, Hermione would stir or call out in her sleep, and he was alert again, holding her, whispering that he loved her, singing softly in her ear. It always calmed her down, but not as much as he wished it would.

            He didn't care if Malfoy was under a curse, he didn't care if he was sorry, Harry knew that he was going to do something to him. Something…primal had surfaced in him, something that scared him just a bit, but fueled him even more. Malfoy had tried to hurt Hermione, he had scared her, and that made Harry…mad wasn't a strong enough word. Homicidal didn't fit either. This was different. A sort of rage he hadn't felt for a while. The rage of someone he loved being hurt and wanting everything in his power to get back at the person who did it.

            "Harry?"

            His thoughts of murder and madness were interrupted by Hermione's small voice.

            "Harry?" She repeated, opening up her eyes.

            "Hey," he said quietly, "How you feeling?" Stupid question.

            "Like I've been run over." She whispered. "What time is it?"

            "Eight." He told her, smoothing back her hair. "Do you want to go see Dumbledore now?"

            It was obviously the wrong question. Hermione's eyes widened, and a sudden shiver went through her body, like she'd been pierced with a needle. She clamped her eyes shut for a moment, reopened them, and fiercely shut them again. Harry watched this all, not sure on whether he should comfort her or not.

            "Hermione," he said, desperate to distract her, "I was thinking, I don't want our relationship to be a secret anymore. I can't do it. Let's just tell Ron and the others and get it over with."

            Hermione cocked one eye open, and then the other. Harry was surprised to see that she was mad. "Oh no, we're not going to do that" she said. "We're going to keep this relationship secret for as long as we can. It's a challenge! To test our skills. You want to be an Auror, right?" Harry nodded, eyes wide behind his glasses. "Well, then, you're just going to have to live with keeping secrets! In fact, since you seem to be such a critic, I bet you ten galleons that we can make it to the play without telling anyone! Now kiss me."  
            Harry, though severely shocked by Hermione's mood, kissed her gently. He pulled away and looked at her. "Do you want to go to Dumbledore now?"

            She nodded. "I need to change though." Harry made a move to leave, but she stopped him. "You don't need to go." She said. "I trust you not to do anything. And I know there's something you want to say, and if you walk out of the door, you might lose your nerve, and regret it later."

            Harry stared at her, open-mouthed. "How'd you-"

            "I've been you're friend for seven years." She smiled, almost sadly. "Give me some credit."

            "I just…" Harry started as Hermione changed out of her old clothes. "When you came running into the Entrance Hall, crying, and looking so scared, and knowing that Malfoy had made you that frightened, it got me mad. Really mad. I didn't care if he meant to do it or not, he tried to hurt you. And you were so scared…" He broke off. He didn't know what he was saying; it was all coming out of him.

            "Harry," Hermione said. "I know. I love you for how much you and Ron protect me from everything, but you can't protect me from everything. We knew a threat on my life would happen some day. I wish you had taken a chance to teach me how to defend myself in the situation instead of locking me away in an ivory tower." She stopped, and then added. "I was so scared." And then Hermione broke down.

            It started out as small sobs, and grew into huge gasping cries that went through her whole body. Harry took hold of her and gently let her onto the bed. Every time he tried to say something, she would sob louder, so he resolved to just holding her.

            In times like this, words are never enough.

            Harry got Hermione calmed down enough to walk down the halls without creating any suspicion. Luckily, most people were in their common rooms or the library, so they didn't run in to anyone. Harry let her go into see Dumbledore on her own, and he waited outside in the hall for an hour. He checked his watch. It was 11:30. He rubbed his hands through his hair again. This was taking forever.

            Finally, the gargoyle leaped aside, and Hermione stepped off the moving staircase. She looked a good deal better than she had an hour before. Harry jumped up to embrace her, thought better, and stepped cautiously towards her. She smiled at him and took his hand.

            "Hi." She said quietly.

            "Hi." Harry said back. "Are you okay?"

            "I'm better now." Hermione said, starting to walk down the hall, hand in hand with him. "You were right, talking helps. After a while."

            Harry's mind shot back to three years before, talking with Dumbledore only hours after the rise of Voldemort. After seeing Cedric die. He thought of the pain, the horrifying realization of all that had happened that night.

            "I'm sorry." He whispered to her. "I'm sorry for putting you through all this. I'm sorry for being Harry Potter."

            "No." Hermione said, pulling him into a hidden alcove on the side of the hall. "Don't ever be. I love you because you are Harry Potter; everything that's happened to you is what makes me love you," she traced the side of his face with one graceful stroke, and whispered. "It's what's made me love you for such a long time now. Besides, love means never having to say you're sorry."

            He kissed her gently in response. "I love you." Harry said quietly when they broke away from each other.

            "I know, Harry." Hermione answered, wrapping her arms around his neck and putting her face to his chest, so she could just hear his heart beat. "I know."

~~~~~~

            Ron met up with them later and proceeded to almost break Hermione by hugging her so tightly.

            "Okay, having trouble breathing." She said, and Ron instantly let go of her. "Thanks."

            "Are you sure you're okay?" Ron asked. "Because if you want us to go and beat up Malfoy for you, it wouldn't be much trouble…"

            "I'm fine, Ron," Hermione said sternly. "Talking with Dumbledore helped a lot. And I'm glad that I had Harry with me last night, too."

            Ron mouthed "Thanks" to Harry and turned his attention back on Hermione. "So we're all good now? Everyone's happy and well-adjusted?" He asked. Hermione nodded, as did Harry.

            "This is a rare and momentous event." Ron said gravely. "Let us remember it forever."

            "I'm already ahead of you!" Hermione said, starting to run down the hall. "Come on, we need to get the to the library! We have reports to do."

            "Wait up!" Harry yelled, and turned to Ron. "She seems all right."

            "Too all right." Ron said darkly. "I'm waiting for her to crack."

            "You mean crack _again_." Harry corrected him. "She already has twice."

            "We'll watch her." Ron said. "Make sure she's okay."

            Hermione had stopped at the top of the hall, waving them on. "You're going to fail your N.E.W.T's if you don't do these essays!" She yelled.

            "Yeah," Harry said, starting to walk down the hall, "We'll watch her."

~~~~~~~~

            On the last day of Christmas Break, when all of the students were finishing last minute homework, the teachers were finishing last minute grading. Well, at least Lauren Monroe was. At eight o'clock that night, she trudged out of her classroom, her bag sagging from the weight of the papers in it. She was just thinking how wonderful it would be to go back to her rooms, have some tea, snuggle under the covers with that new book she was reading, when a shadow fell across her path. 

            "Sirius." She groaned. 

            "We need to talk." He said.

            "Do you see my bag?" Lauren asked. "See how it's overflowing with papers? Those are all the tests I need to have graded by tomorrow. Can we do this some other time?"

            "I'll help you grade them." Sirius offered. Lauren ignored him and started to walk on. "You've been avoiding me."

            She stopped, and let out a small laugh. "Me? Avoiding you? I was only avoiding you because you'd been doing the same to me."

            "So this is like petty revenge?" Sirius asked.

            "Exactly. No! It's not, I'm just- ooooooh you're infuriating!" Lauren snarled.

            "Thank you."

            "Why are you still even here? Shouldn't you be back in London?"

            "Dumbledore asked me to stay on until the play. He wants me to be around since he thinks that the premiere might be the time the Death Eaters attack."

            "Great." Lauren said, lengthening her strides. Sirius was still managing to keep up with her. "There's something else I can add on to my never ending list of worries that this play is going to be ruined. Thank you so much for helping."

            "Why do you hate me?" Sirius said.

            "I hate you because we've managed to prove everyone right. That we do like each other, that it would happen someday. And if there's one thing I've always strived to do, that's prove everyone wrong." Lauren said, her gray eyes flashing dangerously. She stopped in front of the door to her rooms. She quickly unlocked it while Sirius, very confused, stood behind her. "Now go away!" Lauren yelled, slamming the door in his face.

            Sirius stood outside of her door for a minute. He stepped toward it, and put his face up against the dark wood. He started to say quietly, "I know you're slumped up against the door. I know you're starting to cry. I know you feel like crap and I know you're feeling confused. I know this because I know you, and you can't get away from that. Give me a chance, give us a chance. I know that you want to." He listened for a minute, sighed, and started to walk away, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his robe.

            Inside her room, Lauren wiped a tear from her eye. _Damn the man_, she thought, _why does he always have to be right?_

~~~~~~~~

            Things started to get a bit more normal after that. Daily life resumed. Students studied and did last-minute homework. People were sought after and others were avoided.

            And high on the avoided list was Draco Malfoy, newly returned from London and cleared of all possible charges against him. Yes, he was innocent. Yes, he never wanted to do what he had done. Yes, he was in no way a Death Eater, but nobody seemed to really care about this. Every time he walked down the halls, some large group of people turned their backs from him and started to whisper loud enough so that he could catch the tone of their voice. Accusing, mean, frightened. 

            And he hated it. He hated it all, and he hated them too. Draco Malfoy was a walking fountain of spewing hatred. 

            He was just considering going back to his room for some serious brooding, when someone grabbed him and pulled him into a closet.

            "What the Hell?" He shouted, trying to see who had done it. Draco looked wildly around and saw…

            "Hi." It was Ginny Weasley. She was staring at him expectantly, the vibrant red of her hair and the paleness of her skin almost glowing in the dark. "Kiss me." She said simply.

            "What?" Draco asked, pushing Ginny away from him. "What, why, what?" 

            "Do I need a reason?" Ginny asked impatiently.

            "Yes, of course you do!" Draco exclaimed. "You can't just go around telling people to kiss you without a good reason."

            "I'm rebelling." She said simply. "Now kiss me."

            "No!" Draco said. "I will not. Your brothers would kill me."

            "Exactly!" Ginny said.

            Draco's eyes narrowed. "Is this some way to kill me off without making it about what happened on Christmas? Because I didn't want to-"

            "Of course not!" Ginny scoffed. "Didn't you hear me, I'm rebelling." She turned away from him and ran her hands through her hair. "I'm sick of being the youngest Weasley. I'm sick of being 'The Good Girl'. I'm tired of being seen as 'Innocent Little Ginny'. I want to get out. I want my family mad at me, I want boys to want me and girls want to be me. I want to break free of this stupid shell. And the best way to begin is to snog with a boy in a closet. And there can't be anyone my family hates more than you, so that's a great start."

            "No." Draco said. "I can't. You're a good person, and I don't want to do anything to your reputation."

            Ginny's eyes widened, and then formed into angry slits. "Fine." She said. "Fine. You know, I thought you were a bad guy, you with your big reputation, with all your girlfriends. I guess I was mistaken. I wish someone had told me you were just a big coward who doesn't know what to do with a girl in a dark closet. I'll leave."

            As she started to leave, something went off inside Draco. It was like the last piece of the puzzle had fallen in. Ever since he had defeated his father, he had mellowed out and been pleasant, but now it became clear to him: He could be mean without being evil.

            Draco grabbed Ginny's wrist and pulled her back in, bringing the door closed with a satisfying _SLAM_. He shoved her against the wall and whispered into her ear "Oh no you don't." and then kissed her roughly. He could feel Ginny smile for a moment and then kiss him back just as harshly. It wasn't romantic; it wasn't heartfelt like Ginny had always hoped her first kiss would be. But as their tongues clashed and her hands started to grab at Draco's hair, she knew this was just what she needed.

~~~~~~~

            New Year's came and went. Classes started up again. Tests were handed back, old papers were turned in and new ones were assigned. Hermione submerged herself in work, and Harry and Ron watched her carefully, but she seemed to be fine. 

            Once Malfoy was back, rehearsals started again with a vengeance. Lauren worked them harder than she had before with a renewed intensity. By late January, Harry was starting to suspect that Oliver Wood might've possessed her.

            "Is it just me, or does she seem a bit…" Lavender asked, searching for the word she needed.

            "Nazi-like?" Parvati offered, rubbing at her legs, which were sore from the eight hours of rehearsal.

            "Exactly!" Lavender said. "It's like she's putting all of her concentration into this to shut everything else out."

            "She's right." Ginny said, putting her hair up into a bun. "We haven't had a test in her class since before Christmas."

            "Where have you been?" Hannah asked suddenly, just realizing Ginny had been absent for the last ten minutes.

            "Bathroom." Ginny said quickly.

            The other girls all knew this was a lie, but kept their curiosities in check out of their tiredness.

            "Okay girls, Zidler's Rap and the Can-Can, let's take it from the top!" Lauren yelled over. The dancers all groaned.

            "But Lauren!" Padma yelled. "It's ten o'clock!"

            "Tough." Lauren said coldly. "The more we practice now, the less we practice later."

            Back in Hermione's room, where she was supposed to be finishing some homework, she and Harry were in her room, practicing instead. 

            "Come what may!" They sang loudly, smiling like loons. "Come what may! I will love you, until my dy-ing daaaaaaay!" They fell back onto the couch giggling loudly. "Next scene, then?" Harry asked. "Which one is it, again?"

            Hermione looked at the script. Her giddy smile fell. "Death scene." She said quietly. 

            Harry moved closer to her and stared down at the script. It was written in such plain, bold black letters. So much emotion pushed into such a formal space. 

            Lauren had wisely been avoiding that scene since Christmas, as had Harry and Hermione whenever they did these private rehearsals. The thought of that scene, Harry holding Hermione's dead body and weeping over it, had become all too real of a thought. The threat was real, and it was there. 

            Harry put an arm around Hermione's shoulder. "It won't happen." He said quietly. "I won't let it happen."

            "You can't do it all Harry." Hermione said. "You can't protect everyone at once. And you shouldn't have to."

            "But you're special," Harry told her, a small grin on his face. "We have to take care of you."

            "I'm not the princess in the ivory tower." Hermione pleaded. "I'm not a helpless being who needs a big strong man to protect her."

            "I know you don't. I know you can take care of yourself." Harry said. "But I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here."

            "I don't suppose brining your mortality into this would make it worse?" Hermione asked. Harry didn't answer, so she went on. "I hate thinking of you dying too. It's the only thing is this world that I'm scared of. It's what keeps me up at night. I worry over it. We all do. Ron, Ginny, Sirius, it's all we worry about. We're scared we'll lose you young."

~~~~~~~

            Classes again the next day. Lauren had given the actors and dancers their weekly break so they could do homework. Honestly, she had done it more for herself than anyone else. Her crackdown on rehearsals had been so she could shut her other thoughts out.

            And speaking of other thoughts…

            "We need to talk." Sirius said, stopping her in the hall. "Again."

            "Sirius…" She groaned, trying to pass by him.

            "No." He said. "We are going to talk this out."

            Lauren sighed loudly and looked at him. "Fine." She said. "Fine. I give up. You want to talk? We'll talk. We'll work this out like responsible, mature adults."

            They stared at each other. Students passed by them in the hall. They kept on staring. Finally,

            "Wanna go snog in a broom closet?"

            "All right."

~~~~~~~~

            It was like the school was all secret romances. Harry and Hermione. Lauren and Sirius. Draco and Ginny. And if it wasn't secret romances, it was secrets in general. Ron was still hiding the betting pool from his two best friends. Hermione still hadn't told anyone about her Auror testing. Justin hadn't told anyone about Harry and Hermione, as had Sirius (though we suppose that would go under the secret relationships category, right?).

            And if there was one thing that Lavender Brown hated most, it was a secret. Especially secrets, plural. If one was to be the Supreme Gossip Queen of Hogwarts, then one had to know all the secrets. And she had been doing so well at it for the past years. She was first to know when Hermione had gotten her first kiss from that dreamy Krum guy and the first to report the news that Voldemort had risen again, whether it was true or not.

            And here she was now, half a million secrets under her nose, and she had no idea about any of them! Oh yes, she knew there was something going on, especially with Ginny Weasley. She was seeing someone in secret; there were no doubts there. That girl had come late to rehearsal with her hair mussed and lips swollen too many times for there to be something not going on. But Lavender had no idea who with. She had her ear to the ground and her contacts alert, but nothing had turned up.

            Was it possible that people the people in this school were actually learning to keep secrets secret?

            No, she thought, Hogwarts students may be smart, but no one outsmarted Lavender Lilah Brown when it came to their own private matters.

~~~~~~~~

            There was a broom sticking in her back, but that would make sense, because this was a broom closet. Draco had her pushed up against the wall as he ravaged her neck while Ginny kissed any part of his face she could get at. 

            They'd been meeting like this for almost every day for the past two weeks. They'd see each other in the hall, and if they smiled at each other, then it meant that three minutes later they'd be snogging somewhere.

            Ginny had been getting more and more open about kissing him. Dark hallways that were just off the main pathway, closets where she knew the Prefects would look, she'd even openly flirted with him one day after lunch while going to class.

            She knew that she had to be this shameless. You could snog with a bad boy all you like, but it didn't mean anything until someone found out.

            But blast it all, no one had found them yet. She was beginning to get frustrated, and more than just sexually so.

            Ginny checked her watch and pushed Draco away from her. "Classes start in about five minutes." She said simply.

            "What a good girl." Draco drawled.

            Ginny watched him smooth down his hair just before she opened the door. 'God', she thought, 'with his super white blonde hair and my overly pale skin, our children would be transparent'.

            She was turning around to walk out the door when the implications of her thought reached her. She ran into the doorframe. Ginny could hear Draco's laughs of glee behind her. She glared at him and then ran out, her cheeks flaming.

            'NO!' she yelled to herself. 'No, no, no, no, NO! This is not part of the plan'. Ginny's plan was all very simple. It was to make Draco fall in love with her and then publicly humiliate him by breaking up with him in front of everyone in the Great Hall. The plan was not to start thinking about carrying his children.

            "Miss. Weasley, are you all right?" Prof. McGonagall asked when Ginny sped into her class at top speed. "Your cheeks seem flushed. Are you ill?"

            "No," Ginny heard herself say in a distant, far away voice that did not sound like her own, "Someone just played a trick on me." 

~~~~~~~~

            And then, all of a sudden, it was March. Valentine's Day had come and gone, and half the school had focused their attention on Harry and Hermione for the entire day. Alas, nothing had happened out of the ordinary, a large sigh of annoyance was released, and everything was back to normal once more. 

            But what the student body had no idea of was that Harry and Hermione had met at midnight in the Quidditch stands on the eve of Valentine's Day.

            "Harry, it's freezing out!" Hermione complained as he led her up to the top. "Why are we out here?"

            "Because I have something I want you to see." Harry told her. "It won't be but ten more minutes, I promise."

            "Harry," Hermione warned. "It's late. We have classes tomorrow."

            "Just ten minutes. Okay?" Harry pleaded. Hermione was silent.

            "Harry?"

            "Yes?"

            "We should really be studying for our N.E.W.T'S"

            "Hermione, it's three and a half months away!"

            "That doesn't mean we shouldn't study. These tests are very important; they determine what we are going to do with our lives."

            "But I already know what I'm going to do with my life."

            "Still. We're going to spend a week and a half taking them. You might as well study."

            "I'll start in April."

            "Harry!"

            "Fine. Next month."

            "How much longer are we going to be out here?"

            "Five more minutes."

            Hermione sighed loudly. "Harry," she said quietly. "When did you fall in love with me?"

            Harry looked at her, astounded. "Why?"

            "I'd just like to know." Hermione said. "I've been in love with you for almost five years, although I'd be the first to admit I never let myself acknowledge the feelings."

            Harry stared at her intently. Her cheeks were bright red from the cold and a thick strand of hair had fallen into her face (Harry didn't have that many Mysteries Of How Girls Work left to uncover, but one he could not figure out was how girls could stand to have hair in their face all the time). 

            "I've loved you since probably the end of our first year. I didn't realize it until the end of our second." Harry told her, brushing the hair out of her face, "But I didn't fall in love with you until last year. And since then, all I've wanted is to be close to you."

            "Really?" Hermione asked.

            "Yeah, Mione," Harry said, leaning into kiss her. "Really."

            The kiss was short and sweet. Harry pulled away suddenly to look at his watch. "Is it finally time?" Hermione asked.

            "Look at the sky." He told her, unsuccessfully hiding his excitement. Hermione glanced at the sky and gasped.

            It was a meteor shower. Thousands of shooting stars lit up the sky, each leaving it's own trail behind it. The sky looked like a concert of colors and light. In short, it was beautiful.

            Harry watched Hermione stare upwards. "Oh, it's wonderful." He heard her say softly.

            As Harry slipped his hand into her own, he whispered back, "Happy Valentine's Day, Hermione."

~~~~~~~

            Where were we? Oh yes, it was March. On Sunday night's rehearsal, Lauren called them all together to listen to an announcement.

            "This is very exciting news." She informed them. "You'll bow down and thank me when you hear it. Actually, you'll probably worship me."

            "What is it?" All the cast members asked in unison.

            "The play will not be starting in April. I moved it up to two weeks from now." Lauren told them, smiling widely. It fell when she saw their faces.

            There were fifty faces staring at her in outrage. Finally Parvati said, "Why the hell did you do that?"

            "What?" Lauren asked.

            "We're not ready!" Ginny exclaimed.

            "There's so much work still to be done!" Lavender yelled.

            "Now wait a minute." Lauren said. "We've been working on this for five months. The only thing we have left to do is sets. We rehearse three times a week. Everyone knows their lines and almost all of their cues. All that's left for costumes is to make sure they all still fit. We're ready for this."

            Everyone looked at each other uncomfortably for a minute. Then, Hannah said softly, "We still haven't done Roxanne."

            Everyone's gaze immediately turned to Draco and Hermione. "I can do it." Hermione finally said. "We can't dance around this, or not dance as the case may be, around this forever."

            "She has a point." Harry said, breaking his silence. "Since it seems like we have no choice but to do the show in two weeks, we might as well get as much work on it as soon as we can."

            "Great," Lauren said, breathing a sigh of relief. She as glad they had brought it up and not her. For the past three months they had avoided that entire part of the script altogether, choosing to work on the first half instead. "Okay, we'll start it now. Dancers, into your positions."

            They spent the next three nights practicing that one dance. After a cumulative eighteen and a half hours working on it, the twenty-odd dancers, Lavender, Morag, Harry, Hermione, and Draco all knew their steps and cues. It was ready to finally be put all together. Morag did his opening monologue with only two mistakes. Then, he began to sing.

**_Roxanne_**  
_You don't have to put on that red light  
Walk the streets for money  
You don't care if it's wrong or if it is right  
**Roxanne**  
You don't have to wear that dress tonight  
**Roxanne**  
You don't have to sell your body to the night  
  
_

            Then Harry began his part of the song.

  
_His eyes upon your face  
His hand upon your hand  
His lips caress your skin  
It's more than I can stand_  
  


            As Harry drew the last note out, his voice began to mix with Morag's.

  
_Why does my heart cry?  
Roxanne!  
Feelings I can't fight!_

_Roxanne!  
You're free to leave me but  
Just don't deceive me!  
...And please believe me when I say_

_I love you_

            Hermione and Draco continued their scene during the break in music. When Draco started to yell at Hermione, Lauren was surprised to find that it looked as if Hermione was shaking with real fear. As Draco began to chase her around the table, Morag's constant chorus of "Roxanne" and Harry's tortured "I love you" mixed with Hermione's screams. 

            And just as suddenly as the chaos began, it ended. The dancers all stood back from their places, as though not sure where to go. Hermione had moved a few inches from Draco and a few inches closer to Harry.

            "Good." Lauren finally said. "Good. Well, I think you can all go to bed now. See you tomorrow to work on sets!" As everyone left, she grabbed Hermione and pulled her aside.

            "Hermione, I have a large favor to ask you."

            "What is it?" Hermione asked cautiously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "What is _that_?" Ron asked disgustingly, looking at the liquids Hermione was mixing. 

            "I told you Ron," Hermione said exasperatingly. "It's red hair dye. I have to dye it for the part."

            "But can't you just use magic?" Ron asked painfully, trying to wave away the smell of the dye.

            Hermione gave him a withering look. Lavender, who was magically lowering the sink, sighed loudly. "You can't just use magic to change your appearance. Unless you're a Metamorphmagus, your body just isn't supposed to be magically changed."

            "Well you had you're teeth shrunk in our fourth year." Ron said.

            "That was going to happen because of my braces anyway." Hermione told him. "But my hair is not just going to turn red on its own, so a Muggle dye is the only way."

            Ron grimaced as Lavender washed Hermione's hair and added the color on. "Why did you bring me here for this?"

            Hermione cocked an eye open. "You know, you didn't have to come."

            "That's right." Lavender said. "You saw us in the hall and asked if you could come along. It's not like we forced you to come here."

            "Right then, I'm off." Ron said, running out of the room.

            "Boys." Hermione and Lavender muttered under their breath at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~

            "Ahem." Harry heard Hermione's voice behind him. He turned around and stood in shock.

            Hermione was standing in front of him with long red locks just like Ginny's. He'd almost think that they were twins if he didn't know her. 

            "Wow." He said. "It's just…wow."

            "Thank you." She said. "But you don't seem that happily impressed." 

            "It's looks wonderful. It's just…it's just a surprise, that's all." Harry assured her. "Can you believe the play's in a week?"

            "No," Hermione said wistfully. "It seems like we've been working on it forever."

            "Don't forget, we're doing the promo tomorrow in the Great Hall." Harry reminded her. "Are you ready for it?"

            "I'm afraid I'll make a fool of myself." She admitted. "And if I'm afraid of it only for a five minute scene, how will I be able to do an entire play?"

            "You'll be able to do it because you're Hermione." Harry whispered in her ear, "You're perfect in everything you do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            The next night in the Great Hall during dinner, the stage was pulled out. Everyone was staring at them; the soft clatters of forks and knives just loud enough to make the performers nervous. Standing on it was half the cast: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Justin, Draco, Morag, Terry, and Colin. The background was a rich red. Draco was seated and the others stood in front of him expectantly. Draco asked, "What's the story about?"

            As Ron stammered, Harry yelled out, "It's about love! Love, overcoming all obstacles."

            "And it's set in _Svitzervand_!" Ron said excitedly. Harry continued with the story, complete with lines from Justin, Ron, Hermione and Draco. As Harry was pushed out of the way by Justin, his singing began.

_Spectacular, Spectacular   
Spectacular, spectacular  
No words in the vernacular  
Can describe this great event  
You'll be dumb with wonderment  
Returns are fixed at ten percent  
You must agree, that's excellent  
And on top of your fee...  
You'll be involved artistically._

            Then they began to dance. Draco's bemused expression was just frightened enough to make some in the audience laugh.  
  
_So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!  
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!  
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!  
Elephants! Arabians!   
Indians! And courtesans!  
Acrobats! And juggling bears!   
Exotic girls! Fire-eaters!  
Muscle Men! Contortionists!   
Intrigue, danger, and romance!  
Electric lights, Machinery,_  
_Powered with electricity!  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!  
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!  
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!  
Spectacular, spectacular  
No words in the vernacular  
Can describe this great event  
You'll be dumb with wonderment  
The hills are alive, with the sound of music...  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!  
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!  
So delighting, it will run for 50 years!_  
  
Draco: Yes, but what happens in the end?  
_  
The courtesan and sitar man  
Are pulled apart by an evil plan...  
But in the end she hears his song...  
And their love is just too strong._  
  


            Many of the girls in the hall sighed after Harry sang. Hermione resisted the urge to claim him as her own in front of everyone

  
_It's a little bit funny,  
This feeling inside...  
So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!  
So delighting, it will run for 50 years--!  
Sitar player's secret song   
helps them flee the evil one...  
Though the tyrant rants and rails,   
it is all to no avail!_  
  
Justin: I am the evil maharajah! You will not escape!  
Hermione: Oh Harold, no one could play him like you could!  
Justin: No one's going to!  
  


_So exciting, we'll make them laugh   
we'll make them cry!  
So delighting --!  
_  
Draco: And in the end should someone die?  
  


_So exciting, the audience will stomp and cheer!  
So delighting it will run for 50 years...!_

            Everyone applauded loudly at the end. The players bowed and Harry yelled out. "Moulin Rouge! opens this Saturday at eight o'clock! Come see this once in a life time opportunity!"

            They could still hear the thundering applause as they left the Great Hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Five days later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in the Three Broomsticks, all thoroughly tired. "Opening night is tomorrow." Hermione sighed.

            "All our work comes to a finish." Harry said.

            "All my family will be there to cheer us on." Ron said, his tired expression changing suddenly to fear. "I wonder if Lauren would mind if I dropped out…ow!" Hermione had hit him with her Ancient Runes book.

            "This has been so much hard work." Harry said. "Especially for me." He added thoughtfully.

            Ron and Hermione both turned to him with a look of death on their faces. "What do you mean?" Hermione asked "'Hard for you?' I had to dye my hair bright red, I have to wear a corset for all of my scenes, and I have to faint to the floor often with no padding to catch me! I'm bruised all over!"

            "And what about me!" Ron said. "I have to wear that torture device just so I can look short! What do you have to do that's so hard?"

            Harry thought for a moment. "I have to cry."

            "So do I," Hermione said. "And a lot more often than you do."

            "Fine, so it's not that hard on me." Harry said. "I just can't wait for it to be over an normal life to resume again."

            "Here, here!" Ron chorused.

            "To a good opening night." Hermione said, raising her glass of Butterbeer.

            "Cheers." Ron and Harry said, taking long sips. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

            Lauren was about ready to kill the cast. And herself. Maybe everyone. She was running between every dressing room trying to hand off all the right costumes. They had all gotten out of order, and with everyone in make-up, there was no time for the actors to sort through them, so it was all up to her. Hermione's dresses were staring to pile up outside her room. Lauren was suddenly very thankful that everyone else had very few costume changes.

            She knocked on the door. "Hermione?" She asked. Lauren heard a lot of shuffling inside. She curiously opened the door and saw Hermione close the closet.

            "Lauren!" Hermione said. "What's going on?"

            "I just wanted to make sure you were aware that your costumes were creating a road block in the hall.

            "Oh!" Hermione said, going over to grab them. "Sorry about that."

            "It's all right. I'm just glad you have clothes." Lauren joked. "Have you seen Harry?"

            "Harry?" Hermione asked. "No, I haven't. Have you checked with Ron?"

            "No, I'll do that next." Lauren said. She started to leave, but stopped. "Hermione, I'm sorry for having been so distant to you the past week. It's just, with your newly red hair and all the love scenes you have with Harry, it was almost, it was almost" she stammered, "It was almost like seeing Lily and James again. Like seeing a ghost." She turned around and left.

            Hermione stared at the now closed door. She went over and locked it and then opened up the closet. "That was close." She said to Harry who came cautiously out of the closet.

            "Too close." He said, straightening the jacket of his suit. "You look lovely."

            Hermione looked down. She was wearing a bathrobe and her stage make-up looked garish this close up. "Thanks." She said. "You look very dashing."

            "Thank you too." He smiled. "I should get going before she comes by here again." Harry kissed her quickly. Just as he was about to leave, Hermione stopped him.

            "Harry," she asked. "What Lauren said, about me looking like your mum, did you think that?"

            "Do you want to hear the truth?" He asked.

            Hermione nodded.

            "It's all I could think about the last two weeks."

            And then he was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            From the rafters, he watched as students filed in. They all took programs and sat down in the plush velvet chairs. Below him, the curtain divided the scene in half. Loud order among the audience and quiet panic from the cast. He watched the Malfoy boy run past one of the Weasley brats (it was obvious from the hair). The Death Eater looked to the ceiling painted to resemble the night sky. He smiled as the curtain began to rise.

            "Showtime"

**Big thanks to our reviewers! Note: These are the people who have reviewed since chapter 8 was posted. If you posted before then, please look on the chapter before this for your thanks!**

**Miya-chan3, MC** (It took you awhile to see it!)**, Hermione512** (Thanks! Thanks again!)**, Aarien Star, Mrs. Radcliffe@missy1.com** (this is why you should always read the disclaimers first)**, Emma Riddle/ Daughter of the Dark **(Oh, c'mon. Everyone has potential)**, Titanic Hobbit **(thank you, thank you, thank you for such a kind review! Sorry that we drained you emotionally, though)**, myman-harry 526, Finally Reviewing First Mate Meg etc **[took you long enough. I only had to beat you into submission first_-Thing TWo_]**, Seeker Cho** (there is a one-shot sequel planned. Let's just say that it brings up some of the book's real issues. Like Voldie)**, Lady Jynjr** (I hope you got the info on how to work the site!)**, drizztranger, angela **(From what we have understood, from the movie and the book on the movie, The Diamond Dogs is the name attributed to all of the girls at the Moulin, while the Four Whores are those main four, Nini, Arabia, China Doll, and Madame Fromage. Sorry for the confusion) **JMCRonnie**, **kaykay** (We don't think she be proud so much as extremely peeved that we're manipulating her characters so), **RodKnee, Penny Shirley, Emma Riddle/Nessa, and mtm **(We think J.K. will put Hermione and Ron together, but it would only last about a chapter. Besides, Harry and Hermione are quite obviously soul mates)

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	10. Showtime

A.N.

**Thing ONe: Okay, so we were really late starting on this chapter.**

**Thing TWo: We totally apologize. Think about it: when we posted chapter 7, Fred and Wesley hadn't even gotten together yet on _Angel_.**

**Thing ONe: For that matter, Fred hadn't died yet, either. So part of the delay was that _Angel_ had three amazing episodes in a row, and we concentrated on writing about that for a while (see our fic "Dying in his Arms" for the result of that brain wave). Then** **there was schoolwork, and then Angel came back from hiatus.**

**Thing ONe: Don't look at us like that. Sure we're All-Things-Whedonesque-Obsessees, but the show was ending, for Fury's sake. So be grateful that you have any "School is Alive…" at all! We're still crying over the finale.**

**Thing TWo: Plus, we had to watch the movie to make sure everything was right. Notice the care we took in aligning Christian's dialogue to Satine's lyrics in 'Sparkling Diamonds'.**

**Thing ONe: So enjoy.**

**Thing TWo: This is the last chapter. And an epilogue. And a big thank you note to all of you. So please, enjoy.**

****

****

**Thing TWo's random wish: That I had Harry Potter #3 on DVD. That movie? Rocked. And that this wasn't the end of The School Is Alive. I'm gonna miss writing this.**

Ginny Weasley was scared.

The play was starting in five minutes, her entire family was in the audience, and she was wearing a low cut top and push-up bra so she could play a whore. What would her father say? Worse, what would her mother do?

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Ginny shrieked and jumped three feet in the air.

"Sorry." Draco said. "I just wanted to wish you good luck. But now, I must ask: Why the hell are you so jumpy?"

"My entire family is out there." Ginny said, still white from shock. "What will they think when they see this? I'm playing a _whore_, Draco. They'll kill me. And that part during the first dance when I show my bum to the entire audience- Oh my God!" She covered her mouth with her hands, muffling out the last few words. "They'll disown me!"

"It's not like there's all that much money to inherit anyways." Malfoy said, only half joking.

"Mum will kill me." Ginny said seriously. "She won't even wait till the end of the show; she will jump up on stage and kill me. And then Lauren will kill her for ruining the show. And then my brothers will kill her for killing mum, and then someone will kill them for killing Lauren, and it's all one big cycle of never-ending death!"

"Cheer up" Malfoy said. "Maybe you'll get lucky and all that will happen is that they find out about our relationship."

"God, I hope not." Ginny smiled at him, turned away, and then stopped suddenly. "Did you say 'relationship'?"

"I believe so, yes?" Malfoy answered. "Why?"

"This isn't a relationship, Draco. I don't love you, and I certainly don't want to be referred to you as being in one. Understood?"

Malfoy stared at her for a moment, and then recited "Relationship, noun, a connection or association. Like it or not, Weasley, we're associated. So unless you'd like to change the definition, then we have one."  
Ginny was about to retort when Lauren came rushing by. "Ginny, Draco," she hissed. "What are you doing here? Neither of you are on stage till the first dance. Go!"

* * *

Just as Ginny had feared, the entire Wesley family was seated in the front row. Well, almost the entire Wesley family. Percy was away on Ministry business. Ron and Ginny were obviously in the play. But the rest of the family was there, all of whom were becoming annoyed by Molly's constant chatter while looking through the program.

"This is a very nice program, and look at that- Harry and Hermione's names are right on the front, isn't that nice? I suppose Ron isn't on there since he isn't one of the big major characters. Oh look though, here he is on the main cast list. I suppose Ginny will be in the list of dancers….ah, there she is. And here is the actor's information. Harry's is awfully short, it just says 'Harry Potter is a Seventh year and greatly enjoys playing Quidditch.' I suppose that's appropriate, short and sweet, although look at how long Hermione's is, it should be though, what with all the classes that girl takes. It says "Hermione Granger is a Seventh year-'"

"Mum!" Fred yelled, interrupting her. "We can read, you know." George, Bill, Charlie, and Arthur all nodded vigorously.

"Fine then!" Molly snapped. "When is the show starting?"

"Should get going in a few minutes." Bill looked at his watch. "Actually, it should be starting…"

The dimming of the house lights interrupted him.

"…now" Bill finished.

Lauren came on stage and nervously looked around at the crowd. It was a full house. She could even see some people standing in the back. "Ladies and Gentlemen." She announced, her voice already magically magnified. "Welcome to the first production at Hogsmeade Globe Theater. The students have been working very hard on this, and it is our opening night, so please, cheer really loudly for them. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."

The curtains rose. The Death Eater in the rafters smiled. It was show time at last.

* * *

In the movie, it began with the camera going through the streets of Paris. Using magic they had accomplished so much (especially in terms of their extensive sets), but this beginning wasn't easily accomplished. So instead, they brought in a Muggle movie screen. The opening was projected onto it, and just as they entered Christian's apartment, the screen was brought up, revealing Harry, in all of his drunken, grieving glory.

A few girls in the audience gasped. Someone sitting near Sirius said "God, is he hot." Sirius smiled, 'That's _my_ godson they're ogling over. James would be so proud'.

Harry narrated his piece, ran backstage while the lights came up, and came back on, looking slick and comparatively happy. More contented sighs from girls all around.

Sitting in the back of the audience, Lauren held her breath for the upcoming part. This was the first moment that everything could go to hell. Harry and all the Bohos on stage, talking a mile a minute in a scene that seemed so flawless on screen, but so confusing in a play.

But no one messed up. No one. It went so perfectly, Lauren wondered if she was dreaming. Pinch. Nope, not dreaming. She looked around her.

Everyone's head was turned towards the stage, watching with interest. People were laughing, smiling, and dropping their jaws when the set of the Moulin Rouge first appeared.

It was everything she had ever dreamed of concerning this play. If only Baz Luhrman would descend from the heavens to tell her that she was a truly great director, it would all be perfect.

"Where's Ginny?" Fred whispered to George.

"Dunno." George answered.

"She's gotta be up there somewhere." Bill said, looking at everyone.

"Well, there's one girl with red hair, but that can't be her." Charlie pointed out. They all studied the girl for a moment. Their jaws all dropped at the same time as Molly's eyes widened in horror.

"What," she asked in a strangled whisper, "Is my daughter wearing?"

* * *

Hermione breathed in deeply. In one minute, she would be descending from the ceiling on a trapeze into the middle of the audience. Well, not the middle. The aisle, but it was still in the audience.

Something caught her eye on the far side of the catwalk, the part above backstage. She looked over. There was nothing there. Hermione could've sworn she saw a person…

Her cue came, the music stopped. The lighting turned blue, and the magical confetti fell. This was it. Onto the trapeze, and into the stage. As she descended, she heard Ron say "It's her! The Sparkling Diamond."

_The French_

_Are glad to die_

_For love_

_They delight  
_

_In fighting duels._

Harry's line came in the middle of this. "But someone else was to meet Satine that night.

_But I prefer a man who leaves_

"Zidler's investor.

_And gives_

_Expensive_

_Jewels._

"The Duke"

The drums started up. The trapeze circled around the crowd, and Hermione hopped off. 'Here goes nothing…'

Dancing in front of the entire school and God knows how many others; Hermione knew she should feel nervous. But for some reason, it felt right.

In the audience, Sirius noticed the atmosphere changed. It went from girls cooing over Harry to a bunch of teenage boys, just minutes ago bored, suddenly very alert.

More dancing. This time, with Harry. Everyone laughed when Harry stuttered, and Hermione almost did too. Anything to keep her from thinking about what she was about to do. But then, the end of the song came. "Hang onto your hats!" She yelled.

Hermione got back onto the trapeze and was lifted higher and higher above the audience. They had practiced this many, many times. There were magical safety measures put up. There was no way she could get hurt.

And yet…she almost stopped breathing when she had to fall back from the ceiling onto the stage. All of a sudden, she was madly in love with Dean, who played Chocolat, when he caught her. If it weren't for the fact that she was supposed to be unconscious, she would've have kissed him out of gratitude.

* * *

For the set of backstage, they brought it all out front, so that they could set up the Elephant behind the curtain.

Hermione changed into her favorite dress. She loved it. Red as the blood she was coughing up and with a beautiful sweeping back, it was the one dress she felt truly majestic in. She loved all of her outfits, but this one took the cake.

Back in the real backstage, Ron quickly said to Harry, "Ready for the big sex scene?" Harry just smiled devilishly. This had actually been one of their favorite scenes to rehearse, since it was just about the only comedy the two of them ever got to do, and it was one of the funniest scenes in the movie.

The rest of the audience seemed to agree. Lauren grinned as she heard them roar with laughter as Hermione (in a very un-Hermione-like fashion) rolled around on the floor, while Harry looked _extremely_ uncomfortable.

And then….

_My gift is my song_

The audience went very quiet. Harry had sung a total of three lines by now, and this was his first song. When the glitter rained down on them, they allowed themselves a quick "Ooooh," and were silent again. But once it came to the last line, the applause thundered through the theater.

* * *

'Spectacular, Spectacular' went well; they had rehearsed it so many times, it was almost second nature. Hermione's second song went well, and everyone, even the people backstage (though silently) cheered when they kissed after 'Elephant Love Medley'.

The entire cast had realized that one of the unsung benefits of magic was, besides amazing voice-overs, was the ability to change sets with the flick of a wand.

After Malfoy had said (more like screeched) his line "It's not that I'm a jealous man, I just don't. Like. Other. People. Touching. My. Things!" various people in the audience looked at each other. "Wasn't he investigated by the Ministry" someone near Lauren whispered. And then, five minutes later, when Harry and Hermione were snogging in the balcony, someone else remarked, "Wow, they have some good chemistry."

Lauren felt herself quiver with excitement as they neared the end of the first half.

_If I should die_

_This very moment  
I wouldn't feel_

_I've never known completeness_

_Like being_

_Wrapped in the warmth of you_

_Loving_

_Every breath of you_

_Why live life_

_From dream to dream_

_And dread the day…_

As Hermione coughed her lungs up, Harry voice-overed, "How could I know that in those last fatal days that a force darker than jealousy, and stronger than love, had begun to take hold of Satine." And as she collapsed, the curtain closed, and the lights came up. Lauren let out the breath she had been holding. Halfway over. So far, so good.

* * *

Out in the main hall, people were milling about, talking animatedly about the play. Molly Weasley was one of them.

"I have a half a mind to go find that girl and ask what she was thinking, wearing that outfit."

"Mum…" all the boys said at once.

"Well, I won't say anything now." She amended. "But I will have a talk to her later."

Sirius was looking everywhere for Lauren in the hall, but she wasn't there. Quickly realizing that he was an idiot, he ran backstage. He heard her voice, and rounded the corner, and saw her in the middle of the crowd.

"All right everyone that was amazing!" She yelled. "The only complaint I have is that all of you need to remember to _face the audience_! They need to see you! Everyone, into costume and makeup, and back out on stage in fifteen minutes!"

Sirius quickly approached. "Fan-bloody-tastic." He said.

"Sirius!" She squealed. "It's great! It's all great!" Lauren hugged him tightly. "I'd love to chat, but I need to go check on everyone. Make sure everyone's got everything!" She bounded off, whistling a song from the play.

Fourteen minutes, and two different secret couples making out later, they were all getting in their places for 'Like a Virgin'. Hermione came up to Lauren just before she went on.

"I'm sure it's nothing, but I just wanted to tell you. I thought I saw someone up in the catwalk. You might want to check it out." Lauren nodded, and ran back out into the theatre.

* * *

When the curtain rose, it was time for Justin and Malfoy's scene. Hermione was glad that they were laughing. This would be there last chance. Everything after that moment was depressing as hell.

And, speaking of, Harry and Hermione were onstage for 'Come What May'. All the girls in the play loved this part. Not only do you find out that Satine has consumption right before, you had Christian singing his heart out, and the best line ever "Then I'll write a song, and we'll put it in the show and no matter how bad things get or whatever happens, whenever you hear it or when you sing it or whistle it or hum it, you'll know what it means, that we love one another. I won't get jealous."

It was a beautiful song, perfect for the tone of the movie. The entire audience was amazed.

Lavender was waiting to come on from the wings. She loved playing a bitch, it was the role she was born for. But she still felt horrible for the part she had to play in all of it. Still, when she said "This ending's silly. Why would the courtesan go for the penniless writer? Oops, I mean _sitar player_!" she said it with proud cockiness.

And then, once the song ended, and Hermione walked down those steps, she hated herself. Not only was her character denying what she felt for Christian, in a way, she was denying what she felt for Harry, as she had done over and over for years.

"That bitch." A woman near Lauren whispered. She smiled. It was good that this was evoking that emotion. The negative comments were quickly changed to sniffles as Harry delivered the heartbreaking line "I don't want you to sleep with him."

"This is so stupid." Snape muttered. McGonagall shushed him quickly.

Comforting Harry was something that Hermione was so used to, that it wasn't all that hard of a scene to perform. But she still got choked up seeing how sad Harry looked. And of course, there was the scene that she had to do right after.

* * *

Lauren had never sat in the audience and actually watched Roxanne. During rehearsals, she was off to the side so she could more easily interact with the actors. During the final few days before the show, she would start out in the audience, but by 'Your Song', she had moved up to the wings, ready to critique.

It was amazing to watch. Everything about the scene was breathtaking. From Lavender's mesmerizing dancing, to Harry's pained vocals, to Hermione's screams of terror, and all of the dancers moving in exact formation. And the interlude with Malfoy chasing Hermione around the table, every movement choreographed to be as terrifying as possible.

When Morag made the move to slit Lavender's throat and she fell, the applause thundered. "Damn," Lauren whispered. "Am I good or what?"

More heartbreaking scenes. Satine and Christian, right after the Duke's attempted rape. Malfoy playing a murderous creep just a little too well. Hermione doing the Go-for-Broke, Make-'Em-Cry, "Christian loves me!" scene. Justin proving that he can sing. Harry breaking everyone's collective hearts while Hermione decided that Baz Luhrman and Craig Pearce were evil, evil men for doing this.

Harry and Ron loved the next scene, if only for the fact that it was the only one they were able to get through without laughing. Ron spent weeks trying to memorize that one speech though, and screamed when Hermione tried to quiz him on it, claiming that he was still scarred by her rigorous O.W.L. training.

He nailed it though. "Christian, you may see me only as a drunken, vice-ridden gnome whose friends are just pimps and girls from the brothels. But I know about art and love, if only because I long for it with every fiber of my being. She loves you. I know it. I know she loves you."

Maybe what put him right was that he was used to trying to make Harry feel better and getting yelled at. Sort of the course of life.

* * *

Before the audience had time to get over that emotional hurdle, the music rose into a crescendo that blended with 'Hindi Sad Diamonds'

Out of all the sets, this was the favorite of the entire cast. No one knew, why. It might have been because they all ended up acting on it. Maybe it was the opulent colors. The intricate dance that seemed to be framed by it.

The dance scene went well. It took the crowd a second to realize that Hermione hadn't messed up, that it was Satine being affected by the consumption. Lauren had hated directing this one. It was complicated and needed the above shots that only a movie could provide. But with some creative staging, it looked good. The part she loved most was how the audience was made to feel like they were the actual play's audience.

There was one scene right after that had seemed so complicated; it took them a month to come up with the simplest answer. It was Ron and Morag, walking backstage, and Morag falling down the stairs, with Ron oblivious to it all. They had backstage sets for the next scene, but none of which matched what they needed. And then it came to them. Raise the curtain and show their backstage. As long as all the necessary actors were cleared out it would work. And it did. Lauren made a mental note to get down on her knees and thank Colin Creevey for coming up with the idea.

The next part was what were considered to be the most powerful (exempting the death scene, and Roxanne). It had so many elements. Christian stealing the Argentinean's costume. Toulouse learning the truth of Satine's intentions. Christian, making her say that she doesn't love him. Christian, calling Satine his whore and walking away.

All of it leading up to the one, beautiful moment (and then death, but forget that for a second).

* * *

Lauren was trying her hardest not to start crying as Harry walked mournfully past her (or giggle when Ron said "I've forgotten my line"), when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. What Hermione had said came floating back to her now. There might be someone up there.

As Hermione started singing, Lauren walked swiftly to the back of the theater to the stairs. It was Harry's turn as she ran up to the catwalk, singing softly, but powerful enough to hear. When she had reached the top, it was the world's most romantic duet going on down there, and she was missing. Whatever first year had decided to sneak up there would not only be expelled, they'd get their ass kicked.

Ron had fallen out of the ceiling when she came upon the person. They were wearing a cloak. 'That's odd,' she thought. Whoever it was, they were definitely not a student. She tapped the person no the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but you are not supposed to be up here, so if you would just-" She broke off when the man turned around. Hooded mask, sleeves rolled up, and a tattoo of a skull on the left forearm. "Oh shit."

The Death Eater seemed to be having the same reaction. "No! You can't stop me, useless teacher. I'm going to kill them all, and then the Dark Lord will honor me above all others for killing the entirety of Hogwarts! You'll ruin everything!"

Lauren had blanked out during his little speech. She could dimly hear the 'chaos' going on just beneath her. But at his last words, she snapped back to attention.

"Me? Ruin everything?" Lauren could feel her temper rising. "This is _my_ play, you bastard, and no one will ruin it! No one!" Harry and Hermione were getting to the end of the 'Come What May' reprise. The scene that they had rehearsed for months. Not only was this Death Eater going to attack during it, he was causing her to miss all of her hard work.

Before he even had a chance, Lauren had kicked him three times in the stomach, punched him in the jaw, and broken his arm. Between every blow, she yelled "You! Are! Not! Ruining! This! I worked too hard!" And just as she delivered a last crushing blow that knocked him unconscious, she said very lethally "Never come between an Auror and her play. It always ends bad." Below her, she heard the crowd cheer (she'd like to think it was for her, but she knew it was for Justin hitting Malfoy).

"Nice work." Someone behind her said. She turned around. Snape was standing there, grinning. "I thought they might try to pull something tonight."

"Thanks for the warning." Lauren spat.

"I knew you could handle yourself. Besides, it's less work for me." Snape shrugged.

"I hate you." Lauren said. "If you'd excuse me, I have a death scene to watch."

"I'll take care of this." Snape told her. "That play's too damn sappy anyway."

* * *

Back down on the stage, the curtain had risen for the backstage set. The flowers fell around them. Harry kissed Hermione very softly. The noise started to go away. Hermione fell backwards, her breathing labored. Ginny, Parvati, and Lavender all looked at each other. It was the death scene. "Don't cry." Parvati whispered. The cast all carefully circled around the couple, leaving a space for the audience to see through.

After months of avoidance, Harry and Hermione had practiced it to where they were desensitized enough not to think of the real life applications of the scene, but in the emotional place they needed to be. Harry concentrated on not dropping Hermione, and Hermione concentrated on making wheezing noises and coughing.

"You've got to go on, Christian." She whispered.

"I can't go on without you."

"You've got so much to give. Tell our story Christian. Promise me; promise me, yes, that way, I'll always be with you."

One final kiss, and then she was dead. There wasn't a dry eye in the audience. To keep herself from crying just like Harry was up on stage, Lauren concentrated on the next part. They had all loved the way the camera rose above the cast, into the rafters, a peek of the audience, and out into the courtyard. Something else that was great in a movie, impossible on stage. So, like with the opening, they lowered the screen and did the footage, but with their actors inserted, complete with Malfoy walking dejectedly away. Harry started his voiceover when the camera pushed back into his room; the screen disappeared, showing him there.

"Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. And then, one not-so-very-special day, I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote our story. A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people. But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever. The end."

The curtains closed. "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return"


	11. And a little bit more

It was the world's largest party backstage. They had bought out the whole of Honeyduke's and Madame Rosemerta had given them kegs of Butter Beer.

Everyone was loudly laughing a talking to each other. Harry, Hermione, and Lauren were the center of attention.

"And to think," Lauren said to them, "We'll have to do this all over again next week."

"I dunno." Harry said. "This part is fine. It's the acting part that's hard."

Hermione felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around and saw a short man holding a camera. "Excuse me! I'm from the Daily Prophet and wanted to know if I could take a picture of you for the accompanying article."

Harry searched the room and bellowed "Ron! Get over here!"

Ron ran over and got into the picture with them. After it was taken, Hermione hugged the two of them tightly.

"Aww," Lauren said. "The Trio, together again."

"Were we ever apart?" Ron asked.

Lauren never had a chance to answer the question, because Molly had launched herself onto the three of them.

"Oh! You did a wonderful job! I'm so proud of you!"

"Mum, get off!" Ron said. "Why don't you go find Ginny?"

Molly's eyes formed into angry slits. "Oh, that's right; I need to talk to that girl."

"That wasn't very nice, Ron." Arthur said.

"She was going to find Ginny at some point tonight." Ron shrugged. "Might as well get it over with."

Harry looked over his shoulder and saw Molly yelling at Mrs. Weasley. Luckily for Ginny, it was so loud that you couldn't hear anything.

"Hey," Harry said to Hermione. "How's it going?"

She smiled. "I'm not sure. I'm just kinda happy."

"I think we should tell them." Harry said. "We might as well."

"Okay," Hermione winked. She wrapped an arm around his neck and brought his face towards hers.

It took a good two minutes before the hundred people in the room noticed their two leads making out in the middle of the room.

Justin was the first to notice, but he didn't say anything, waiting to see if anyone else would.

Ginny looked up from her mother's berating and gasped. "Oh my God!"

Everyone looked at the direction she was pointing at. The silence was broken by Lauren's shriek of "Ron, quick! Who bet on opening night?"

Ron scrambled for the list. Harry and Hermione broke apart, both of them looking confused.

"What list?" They said together.

"Here it is!" Ron yelled. "Okay, for opening night, we have Prof. Sinistra." She let out a greedy giggle and came forward.

"Wait a minute!" Hermione screeched. "You had a bet going?"

The entire cast nodded. "Who was in on it?"

"Well, Lauren, Sirius, the teachers," Ron listed.

"The teachers?" Harry asked, his eyes bugged out. "The teachers were betting on our love life? McGonagall and Dumbledore, and," His voice went very high, "Snape?"

"Yup." Ginny put in.

"Oh God," Hermione whispered, leaning into Harry, who looked shell-shocked.

"So," Ron said, coming forward. "I'm glad you two finally got together, and tonight of all nights."

"Actually…"Justin and Sirius said.

"This happened a while back." Hermione finished.

Now it was everyone else's turn to look surprised.

"What?" Lauren asked, "When?"

"Back in October." Harry said.

"That long?" Lavender screamed. "How could you keep this from me?"

"We're not exactly close." Hermione said softly.

"Close, schmose!" Lavender said. "This is important gossip. People needed to know!"

Ron was staring at Harry and Hermione. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Later." Harry said. "Suffice to say, Voldemort."

"Ah."

Lauren looked down at the list. "Okay, October. When in October?"

They looked at each other. "Kinda early in the month."

"Okay, early October was….Sybil?"

Professor Trelawney drifted up. "Yes, I was crystal gazing one night and saw the two of them together. Am I correct in saying that this began in the Great Hall, late at night?"

Hermione's eyes widened. Harry just said very, very quietly, "Damn."

Everyone smiled.

Lauren looked around and said. "We all have money to give you Sybil; we'll do that in a minute."

Harry looked over at Hermione. "I'd say this all worked out okay."

Hermione gave him a quick kiss. "I'd say it did."

"Ron seems to be taking it well." Harry said.

"I was worries he wouldn't." Hermione sighed. "I'm sure there will be problems."

"Yeah, there will be." Harry whispered. "But I'll always love you."

"Come what may?"

"Come what may."

The Probable and Complete End


	12. So now what?

We'd like to say that in the two years since we've posted this, we've been through heartache, love, new experiences, and personal redemption.

Except that it would be total bull.

What we have been through is various new obsessions (Ewan! Buffy! Getting Back Into Harry Potter! Damming Joss Whedon to the Worst Circle of Hell!), lots and lots of movies ( Fahrenhet 9/11, Stepford Wives, Eternal Sunshine, Troy, and so, so many more) and some scary fashion choices ("This green and white striped poncho is butt-ugly" "Yup" "I have to buy it, don't I?" "Yup").

But you know what? We don't matter. It's all about you, the reviewer.

Cause you guys are what made it all work. Without the constant (and sometimes scary) support, there's no way we ever could have gotten through with this. If it weren't for the way you guys begged for a new chapter, we would never set impossible deadlines that we couldn't let you down with.

And, to a few of your friends back home:

Meagan: Crying while watching Angel is just one more service we offer!

Emily: Always rember me!

And to Tori: We never, ever would have posted if you hadn't suggested it. It's really because of you that this exists somewhere outside our computer.

* * *

So that's it. The story is over.

We're not through though. We've been working on a few Buffyverse stories, and a Harry Potter short about Hermione. Maybe even an Alias story. But that's it for mixing fandoms. It's a lot harder than it seems.

And also on our Yahoo Group (the link to which is in our profile. Join!), at some point, we'll be MST-ing a few Angel episodes with our friend Meagan. Since ff.n doesn't allow MST's, they'll be on the site.

* * *

We're gonna miss you. Stick around for updates, join the Yahoo Group, that way we can still talk to everyone.

Did we mention we're going to miss doing this? We didn't? Oh, well we are.

* * *

The End.

Really. Go home. Bye. Go!


End file.
